This project examines why China’s central bank has become more willing to let the renminbi appreciate against the dollar in recent years. Steinberg argues this reflects changes in lobbying behavior. Chinese exporters have become less opposed to an appreciation of the RMB in recent years, and this has made it politically easier for Chinese authorities to strengthen the currency. This project also explores why Chinese exporters have grown less opposed to an appreciation of the RMB, arguing that this reflects the increasing internationalization of the RMB. As Chinese firms have gained the ability to price their exports in RMB, rather than in a foreign currency, their opposition to RMB appreciation has declined.
David Steinberg
David Steinberg
David A. Steinberg is an associate professor of international political economy. His research focuses on the politics of international money and finance. His book, Demanding Devaluation: Exchange Rate Politics in the Developing World (Cornell University Press, 2015), was awarded the Peter Katzenstein Book Prize and received an Honorable Mention for the American Political Science Association’s William H. Riker Book Award. He is the author of articles in Comparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Politics, World Politics, among other outlets. His research has been supported by a Johns Hopkins Catalyst Award, the SNF Agora Institute, and by fellowships from the University of Pennsylvania’s Browne Center for International Politics and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. In 2017, he was awarded the Max M. Fisher Prize for Teaching Excellence.