We analyse the international transmission of monetary policy shocks with a focus on the effects of foreign liquidity on the euro area. We estimate two domestic structural VAR models for the euro area and then we introduce a global liquidity aggregate. The impulse responses show that a positive...

The accumulation of large amount of sovereign reserves has fuelled an intense debate on the associated costs. In a world with liquidity crises and strategic default, we model a contracting game between international lenders and a country, which delivers the country's optimal portfolio choice and...

The paper explores whether and how current lending-of-last-resort practices can be extended beyond national borders. It argues that what makes lending of last resort effective at the national level is a blend of resource availability, technical discretion, ex-ante supervision, and powers of...

This paper investigates the determinants of the investment activity of Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) at a macro level, with special emphasis on the possible reaction to a financial crisis in a potential target economy. The analysis relies upon a specially built proprietary database, which...

The analyses of the international investment position and balance of payments statistics suggest that foreign assets held abroad are greatly underestimated, in particular in the sector of portfolio investments. The aim of this work is to test this hypothesis and to estimate the magnitude of...

This paper analyzes the investment choices of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) by country and industry in the last twenty years. Assets under management increased from $500 billion in 1995 to $4.7 trillion at end-2011. Based on a specially constructed data set, comprising 2,740 equity deals...

Several factors contribute to attracting foreign investment: cyclical, such as demand fluctuations; structural, such as industrial specialization or the presence of natural resources; fiscal policy, including taxes; political, such as social stability and country governance; and finally, the...

More than three years since the events of the Arab Spring, the five North African countries � Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia are still going through a difficult transition. This study provides an overview of Italian trade and direct investment in the region. The main stylized...

The paper presents the new data collection and the estimation methodology for the external statistics, the results of the comparison between the old and the new data in the overlapping period and the evolution of the Italian balance of payments and international investment position since the...

Since the early 1990s internationalization has moved forward very rapidly. With the reorganization of production processes on a global scale, the average growth rate of foreign direct investment (FDI) has exceeded that of GDP and trade, and its geographical and sectoral distribution has changed....