Germany's international investments show large net valuation losses of more than 20 percent of GDP since 2006. Is this entirely random or is there a story behind these losses? It is difficult to provide a meaningful answer to this question. In general, high valuation losses on the net foreign...

Three sovereign defaults in the past decade have each inflicted losses of at least 70% on bondholders: Argentina, Ecuador, and now Greece. In each case, creditor rights and the rule of law were trampled, setting troubling precedents that are worrying investors involved in vulnerable European...

The paper discusses the trajectories of the Greek public deficit andsovereign debt between 1980 and 2010 and its connection to thepolitical and economic environment of the same period. We payspecial attention to the causality between the public and the externaldeficit in the period after 1995,...

Available data suggest that, between 2006 and 2012, Germany may have suffered losses to the value of more than 20% of annual economic output on its net foreign assets. Were these presumed losses on German net foreign assets coincidental or can they be attributed to deeper causes? Over time,...

This paper reviews the rapidly growing empirical literature on the drivers of capital flows to emerging markets. The empirical evidence is structured based on the recognition that the drivers of capital flows vary over time and across different types of capital flows. The drivers are classified...

This paper investigates the link between terms of trade volatility and long-term output growth in developing countries. I find that differences in terms of trade volatility account for 25% of the cross-country variation in growth from 1980 to 2007. The magnitude is arresting: a...

This study investigates the major determinants of international capital flows in selected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Both theory and the empirical literature suggest that financial liberalization and regionalism lead to higher levels of capital inflows. By using a dynamic panel data...

El objetivo de este trabajo es responder dos preguntas de política relacionadas con el uso de un depósito no remunerado como forma de control de capitales en una economía pequeña y abierta como la colombiana: ¿Son un instrumento efectivo para reducir el endeudamiento externo de los agentes...

Is liberalization in developing countries good for growth even if it leads to crises? The answer is a clear yes. But then, how can we explain the less-than-stellar growth performance of Mexico, a prominent liberalizer and member of NAFTA? In this paper we address these questions by analyzing the...

Is increased competition in international financial markets desirable? On the one hand, reductions in mnopoly power can be efficiency improving. On the other, increased competition may make it hard to coordinate in disciplining debtors in default. This paper presents a model that formalizes this...