The relationship between Imported Inflation and Macroeconomic Indicators: Evidence from 34 Developed and Developing Countries

International interdependence between countries financial and real sectors has considerably increased since the middle of the twentieth century. Although increased economic integration has helped to improve the global economic performance, it has increased the degree of vulnerability to external shocks. Therefore, one of the most important challenges facing government is policy recommendations on how to reduce economic vulnerability to external shocks. This paper estimates the inflationary vulnerability for 34 developed and developing countries during the period 1988-2013, and then uses the methods of analysis of variance and correlation coefficient to identify factors related to the inflation vulnerability. The results indicate that the inflationary vulnerability to imported inflation is related to the manufacturing share of value-added, the degree of openness, and the foods import and export. The markets regulations, especially the credit market, and financial development have a significant relationship with inflationary vulnerability to foods and oil shocks. In addition, the use of sustainable energies has a significant relationship with the inflationary vulnerability to oil shocks.