The zero level of interest rates constitutes a limit of this standard monetary policy instrument. Based on the example of the Czech Republic we argue that in such a situation foreign exchange interventions represent a meaningful monetary policy tool for small open economies not facing serious...

This paper assesses the determinants of foreign exchange (FX) reserves in emerging market economies (EMEs). First, it reviews the drivers behind reserve accumulation and the metrics used to evaluate reserve adequacy. We argue that precautionary motives, at least until early 2000s, were the main...

This paper develops a new international trade model with capital market imperfections and endogenous borrowing costs in general equilibrium. Our theoretical model is motivated by new empirical patterns from enterprise survey data of the World Bank. Observing that a substantial fraction of the...

We study how foreign competition affects the composition of investments inside firms. A parsimonious model predicts that firms have an incentive to shift their investments towards more short-term assets when exposed to tougher competition. Using data on expenditures of listed US companies into...

The lack of coordination in the resolution of multinational banks has led to demands for the increased centralization of resolution regimes. However, as this paper argues, the anticipation of resolution procedures affects the incentives of host countries to impose capital standards on their...

This volume features eight papers written for the conference quot;Financial market developments and their implications for monetary policyquot;. The event was jointly organised by the BIS Representative Office for Asia and the Pacific and Bank Negara Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on 13 August 2007....

Did policy interventions contribute to the gradual segmentation of lending markets starting with the 2007 - 2008 global financial crisis? We investigate this question in an international Cournot duopoly model under an equity constraint. Two symmetric multinational banks compete for corporate...

Several countries have recently introduced national capital standards exceeding the internationally coordinated Basel III rules, thus suggesting a "race to the top" in capital standards. We study regulatory competition when banks are heterogeneous and give loans to firms that produce output in...

This paper documents three major and favourable inflation dynamics in emerging market economies (EMEs). First, the level of inflation has moderated in EMEs and has been broadly stable since the early 2000s. Second, inflation persistence has declined over the past decade. Third, EME exchange rate...

The emergence and persistence of basis spreads in cross-currency basis swaps (CCBS) since the global financial crisis have become a mystery in international finance, as they violate the long-standing principle of covered interest parity (CIP). We argue that the phenomenon is no mystery but...