This paper analyzes the role of contagion in the currency crises in emerging markets during the 1990s. It employs a non-linear Markov-switching model to conduct a systematic comparison and evaluation of three distinct causes of currency crises: contagion, weak economic fundamentals, and...

Sovereign risk is defined as a country?s ability-to-pay and willingness-to-pay its debt. This paper examines how cabinet reshuffles affecting the ministry of finance or economics are perceived by sovereign bond holders in twelve Latin American countries from 1992 to 2005. We find that such...

The exchange markets and the exchange rates of Asia and Latin America are studied econometrically. Endogenous structural change and cointegration analyzes and impulse-response functions are used. The findings indicate that: 1) the long-term timing of the exchange markets is low; 2) there is no...

This paper examines the risks and returns of Latin American stocks following American depository receipt (ADR) listings in U.S. equity markets and finds no systematic change in their volatility. This finding differs from previous results for ADR introduction on European and Asian stocks,...

Latin America is known to have income inequality among the highest in the world. That inequality has been invoked to explain low growth, poor education, macroeconomic volatility, and political instability. But new research shows that inequality in the region is falling. In this paper, we...

We examine corporate sector vulnerabilities in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. First, we identify stylized facts based on corporate financial indicators. Second, we assess vulnerability of individual firms to a sudden stop in financing through a probit model, using a panel of 18...

This article uses a crisis index based on an average of the variations in currency and financial crises indicators, referred to as “twin crises”, adjusting them to the same volatility. Thus, the objective is to measure the degree of vulnerability to twin crises within a group of 19 countries...

We dissect the impact of liquidity on returns of Latin American firms using a detailed data set of firm characteristics over various market cycles. We find that firm-level liquidity (illiquidity) is positively (negatively) associated with returns. Further analysis reveals that global illiquidity...

Globalization scholars have long-debated to what extent economic integration, and specifically, mobile private capital constrains national policymaking. With Western capital reeling from the 2008 financial crisis, state-owned capital made inroads globally. China, as the world's largest saver,...