In this paper I use weekly data from seven emerging nations - four in Latin America and three in Asia - to investigate the extent to which changes in Fed policy interest rates have been transmitted into domestic short term interest rates during the 2000s. The results suggest that there is indeed...

Current debates on globalization have tended to focus on financial market volatility and contagion. In fact, many proponents of the imposition of some form of capital restrictions in emerging markets have argued that these would help reduce or even eliminate spillover across emerging market....

This paper analyzes the behavior of some key variables during the recent economic liberalization reform attempted in Chile. The paper concentrates on the behavior of the real exchange rate and nominal and real interest rates during the period 1977-83. It is argued that as a consequence of the...

Contrary to what is suggested by the theory, most empirical studies on the demand for international reserves have failed to find a significant(negative) coefficient for the opportunity cost of holding reserves. In this paper it is argued that the reason for this is that the opportunity cost of...

As a number of developing countries move towards more liberalized financial systems, the question of how interest rates respond to foreign influences and domestic policies is one that policymakers in these countries have started to face. Most existing studies of interest rates typically treat...

In this paper we use high frequency interest rate data for a group of Latin American countries to analyze the behavior of volatility through time. We are particularly interested in understanding whether periods of high volatility spillover across countries. Our analysis relies both on univariate...

In this paper I analyze several issues related to contagion,' including its definition, recent experiences, alternative channels at work, and possible prevention mechanisms. The discussion deals with the macroeconomics implications of contagion, and concentrates on the relationship between the...

I analyze whether countries with flexible exchange rates are able to pursue an independent monetary policy, as suggested by traditional theory. I use data for three Latin American countries with flexible exchange rates, inflation targeting, and capital mobility - Chile, Colombia and Mexico - to...

The Mexican peso crisis of December 1994 shocked politicians, analysits, and pundits. Shock was followed by panic, as investors flew the country. It took a massive bail-out package put together by the IMF and the US Treasury to generate some tranquility in the markets in mid to late 1995. From...