In this paper we study the presence of calendar anomalies in the main Latin- American stock markets, for the 1993 to 2007 period. The literature has shown that the detection of those effects may depend on error distribution assumptions (Baker et al., 2008), and that their existence could be due...

Foreign bank entrants into emerging markets are usually thought to improve the condition and performance of acquired institutions, and more generally to enhance local financial stability. We use bank-specific data for a range of Latin American countries since the mid-1990s to address elements of...

In this paper we explore the ‘Mrs. Machlup's Wardrobe' hypothesis to understand the growing trend of Latin American economies amassing large stocks of international reserves. Using annual data from 1980 to 2007, we examine the relevance of the argument that economies continue to add to their...

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been growing rapidly, at a pace far exceeding the growth in international trade. Thus, a full understanding of the relationship between trade in goods and FDI is important for obtaining a complete picture of the extent and sources of international linkages. We...

I explore an empirically robust but previously undocumented association between the foreign exchange reserves accumulated by central banks of emerging market economies and dollar-denominated debt held in the balance sheets of non financial sector firms. Borrowing in dollars can have damaging...

Latin America has experienced deep transformations during the 1990s. In many countries of the region traditional imbalances have been largely abated, privatizations are widespread, openness of both trade and financial accounts has been largely accomplished, supervisory and enforcement...

After decades of trial, error, and occasional regress, the pieces of a successful Latin American economic model can be seen scattered among the leading economies of the region. The most traditional macroeconomic maladies of the emerging world - such as chronic fiscal imbalances and monetary...