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This study delves into the intricate relationship between fluctuations in the real exchange rate and the trade balance, situated within the framework of a ‘two-country’ trade theory model. Despite a wealth of prior research on the impact of exchange rates on international trade, the precise extent of this influence remains a contentious issue. To bridge this gap, our research adopts a pioneering approach, employing three distinct artificial intelligence-based influence measurement methods: Mean Decrease Impurity (MDI), Permutation Importance Measurement (PIM), and Shapley Additive Explanation (SHAP). These sophisticated techniques provide a nuanced and differentiated perspective, enabling specific and quantitative measurements of the real exchange rate’s impact on the trade balance. The outcomes derived from the application of these innovative methods shed light on the substantial contribution of the real exchange rate to the trade balance. Notably, the real exchange rate (RER) emerges as the second most influential factor within the ‘two-country’ trade model. This empirical evidence, drawn from a panel dataset of 78 nations over the period 1992–2021, addresses crucial gaps in the existing literature, offering a finer-grained understanding of how real exchange rates shape international trade dynamics. Importantly, our study implies that policymakers should recognize the pivotal role of the real exchange rate as a key determinant of trade flow.
Kim et al. (Sun,) studied this question.