Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY -- II. WHAT ARE RISK PREMIUMS ON THE DOLLAR AND HOW CAN WE MEASURE THEM? -- III. CAPITAL FLOWS AND RISK PREMIUMS -- IV. EXPLAINING RISK PREMIUM MOVEMENTS -- V. CONCLUSIONS AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS -- DATA AND REGRESSION METHODOLOGY -- References.

The paper shows how-in a Merton-type model with bankruptcy-the currency composition of debt changes the risk profile of a company raising a given amount of financing, and thus affects the cost of debt. Foreign currency borrowing is cheaper when the exchange rate is positively correlated with the...