Exploiting information contained in the term-structure of sovereign credit spreads, we estimate time-varying fiscal limits – defined as the maximum outstanding debt that can credibly be covered by future primary budget surpluses. Our approach is based on a novel sovereign credit risk model...

In the literature on currency and banking crises it has become the standard procedure to distinguish pure currency crises, pure banking crises and combined ("twin") currency and banking crises. We show theoretically and empirically that a similar differentiation should be chosen with regard to...

This paper explores the drivers of sovereign defaults in 100 countries over the period 1996-2012. We build a new data set of sovereign defaults and find that default events on local and foreign currency bonds are equally likely. However, governments default under different economic and financial...

In many theoretical models of debt crises, the operative trigger for the run on sovereign debt is a shortage of the liquidity reserves necessary to finance short-term debt services. As a result, the concept of a solvent, illiquid sovereign debtor has generated significant literature on debt...

To what extent are currency crashes linked to sovereign defaults? Measuring their relationship is notoriously difficult because these are rare disaster events. I take a novel approach. I learn about the risk-neutral distribution of rare currency crushes from prices of far out-of-the-money (FOM)...

We analyse the international transmission of interest rates by focusing on the role of the accumulation of international reserves and on the financing of sovereign debt. An increase in foreign exchange reserves is expected to moderate the influence of U.S. interest rates. However, a high level...

Climate change poses an existential threat to the global economy. While there is a growing body of literature on the economic consequences of climate change, research on the link between climate change and sovereign default risk is nonexistent. We aim to fill this gap in the literature by...

We analyse the international transmission of interest rates by focusing on the role of the accumulation of international reserves and on the financing of sovereign debt. An increase in foreign exchange reserves is expected to moderate the influence of U.S. interest rates. However, a high level...

We study a model in which policy aims at aggregate price stability. A fiscal imbalance materializes that, if uncorrected, must cause inflation, but the imbalance may get corrected in the future with some probability. By maintaining price stability in the near term, monetary policy can buy time...