Partial credit guarantees are among the most important interventions designed to improve financial opportunities to small- and medium-size entrepreneurs (SMEs). Here, a third party, usually the government, guarantees the repayment to the lender in the event that the borrower defaults. Almost 100...

Microeconomic flexibility, by facilitating the process of creative-destruction, is at the core of economic growth in modern market economies. The main reason for why this process is not infinitely fast, is the presence of adjustment costs, some of them technological, other institutional. Chief...

This paper analyzes the Chilean experience with capital flows. We discuss the role played by capital controls, financial regulations and the exchange rate regime. The focus is on the period after 1990, the period when Chile returned to international capital markets. We also discuss the early...

Latin American economies are exposed to substantial external vulnerability. Domestic imbalances and terms of trade shocks are often exacerbated by sudden stops of capital inflow. In this paper we explore ways of overcoming external vulnerability, drawing lessons from a detailed comparison of the...

Integration to international capital markets is one of the key pillars of development. However, capital flows also bring volatility to emerging markets. Are there mechanisms to reap the benefits of capital flows without being hurt by their volatility? Are current practices, such as large...

The financial crisis and recession of 2008-2009 required significant policy responses by central banks. For formal inflation targeters (IT), a natural question arises about whether IT frameworks were flexible enough to address this unprecedented policy environment. We address this question by...

This article summarizes the most salient aspects of papers presented at the Central Bank of Chile’s Tenth Annual Conference “Current Account and External Financing” held in November 2006 and soon to be edited into an upcoming book. Many works were included oriented to improve understanding...

Using a new data base that includes the currency composition of assets and liabilities of non-financial firms, this paper examines the effects and determinants of currency mismatches in Chile. In line with previous studies, we find that after a depreciation in real terms, firms with the largest...

Recent literature on sudden stops analyses the sharp and varied capital account reversals experienced by many emerging market economies. This paper claims that more information can be extracted from the behavior of gross capital flows than from their net results. It emphasizes the fact that,...