We provide a systematic analysis of bilateral, source and host factors driving portfolio equity investment across countries, using newly-released data on international equity holdings at the end of 2001. We develop a model that links bilateral equity holdings to bilateral trade in goods and...

International financial integration allows countries to become net creditors or net debtors with respect to the rest of the world. In this paper, we show that a small set of fundamentals-shifts in relative output levels, the stock of public debt and demographic factors-can do much to explain the...

We examine whether the cross-country incidence and severity of the 2008-2009 global recession is systematically related to pre-crisis macroeconomic and financial factors. We find that the pre-crisis level of development, increases in the ratio of private credit to GDP, current account deficits,...

Data accompanying IMF Working Paper 99-115, The External Wealth of Nations - Measures of Foreign Assets and Liabilities for Industrial and Developing Countries

The paper highlights the increased dispersion in net external positions in recent years, particularly among industrial countries. It provides a simple accounting framework that disentangles the factors driving the accumulation of external assets and liabilities (such as trade imbalances,...

The paper highlights the increased dispersion in net external positions in recent years, particularly among industrial countries. It provides a simple accounting framework that disentangles the factors driving the accumulation of external assets and liabilities (such as trade imbalances,...

This paper addresses the implications of financial globalization for exchange rate behavior. We highlight two dimensions: first, a wider dispersion in net foreign asset positions implies stronger long-term trends in real exchange rates; second, the impact of currency movements on net external...