Zusammenfassung:
We propose a fully flexible, complete-market model of the international business cycle that is consistent with two major empirical facts: positive cross-country co-movement of economic aggregates and a negative correlation between the real exchange rate and relative consumption (the Backus-Smith puzzle). The novelty of our paper is twofold. First, we allow for imperfect substitutability of capital which significantly reinforces Harrold-Balassa-Samuelson effects, producing more empirically relevant movements in real exchange rates. Second, we introduce changes in expectations (news-shocks) as an explanation to the Backus-Smith puzzle through movements in relative hours across countries, while being consistent with expectations-driven economic expansions.