The global financial crisis has brought increased attention to the consequences of international reserves holdings. In an era of high financial integration, we investigate the relationship between the real exchange rate and international reserves using nonlinear regressions and panel threshold regressions over 110 countries from 2001 to 2020. Our study shows the level of financial-institution development plays an essential role in explaining the buffer effect of international reserves. Countries with a low development of their financial institutions may manage the international reserves as a shield to deal with the negative consequences of terms-of-trade shocks on the real exchange rate. We also find the buffer effect is stronger in countries with intermediate levels of financial openness.

全球金融危机使人们越来越关注持有国际储备的后果。在金融高度一体化的时代，我们利用非线性回归和面板阈值回归研究了 2001 年至 2020 年 110 个国家的实际汇率与国际储备之间的关系。我们的研究表明，金融机构发展水平在金融一体化进程中发挥着至关重要的作用。解释国际储备的缓冲效应。金融机构发展程度较低的国家可以将国际储备作为盾牌来应对贸易条件冲击对实际汇率的负面影响。我们还发现，金融开放程度中等的国家的缓冲效应更强。