Formerly a favourite location for private capital inflows, Brazil was virtually cut off from further bank lending in the 1980s. The country's rating in secondary loan markets plummeted, and foreign direct investment dwindled. New external financing was replaced by an accumulation of interest...

Since recent financial crises in Asia and Latin America, developing countries have been strongly advised to rely primarily on foreign direct investment (FDI) in order to promote economic development on a sustainable basis. Even harsh critics of rash capital account liberalization argue in favor...

International capital markets are far from functioning perfectly. During the last decade, they overshot both ways: The earlier boom of private capital flows to emerging market economies (EMEs) turned out to be the prelude to the drama of seriously impaired access to foreign capital in the late...

Latin America has regained attractiveness for foreign direct investment. However, it is still uncertain whether the recent boom of capital inflows is sustainable, and which countries are well prepared to benefit from the current trend towards globalized production. Economic policies pursued by...

Politicians in Asia and some economists contend that developing countries are at the mercy of the rapidly changing winds blowing from international capital markets. We are indeed witnessing another episode of volatility in capital flows, with foreign investors suddenly fleeing emerging markets...

Trotz des Booms ausländischer Direktinvestitionen in Lateinamerika klafft zwischen Wunsch und Wirklichkeit immer noch eine erhebliche Lücke. Bei vielen Standortfaktoren fällt die Region weiterhin hinter die Attraktivität asiatischer Konkurrenten zurück. Auch innerhalb Lateinamerikas...

The dramatic changes presently taking place in the world economic environment involve considerable risks, but at the same time offer significant opportunities which should not be ignored. Some of the major challenges the world economy is facing in the 1990s are discussed in the following article.