This paper analyzes the strategic role of investment from a debtor country’s perspective. The framework is one in which, if the debtor country is unable to meet debt obligations, a bargaining regime determines the amount of debt repayment. In the context of a two-country real trade model, debt...

In an economy with a debt overhang, investment depends on expected tax rates. On the other hand, expected tax rates depend on the debt’s face value. Therefore investment depends on the face value of debt. I show that this may lead to a positive or negative association between debt and...

This paper provides empirical evidence on the determinants of long-term growth performance in a sample of 55 developing countries grouped by income levels. The evidence indicates that a model incorporating the savings rate, export performance, expenditures on human capital development, the...

Debt relief and penalties are discussed in connection with sovereign-country loans. We focus on conditions for the existence of penalties that are too low for ensuring Pareto efficiency, and show the possible time inconsistency of optimal debt contracts. A methodology for ascertaining debt...

A common proposal designed to deal with the developing countries’ debt problem is that there be set up some kind of “international debt facility” which would buy up debt at a discount and then write down its contractual value, hence providing debt relief. There are three main parties to...

This paper is concerned with debt-equity swaps in which foreign residents are a party to the exchange (i.e., it does not deal with flight capital), and with debt forgiveness. The seemingly unrelated issues of debt-equity swaps and debt forgiveness are jointly treated in this study, because debt...

This paper analyzes the dynamics of the real exchange rate and the price of equity for a small open economy using an optimizing model in which the process of capital accumulation entails adjustment costs. The analysis demonstrates that along an adjustment path toward long-run equilibrium,...

This note examines the efficiency gains that might result from market-based debt reduction and alternative uses of resources. It is argued that when a country’s expected output falls short of contractual claims on that output, private investment is drawn to activities that protect the...