What determines the composition of external liabilities, both across countries and over time? More specifically, which countries account for the massive increase in equity-like liabilities (foreign direct investment and portfolio equity), especially since the mid 1990s? The empirical analysis...

The relationship between international payments and the real exchange rate¡Xthe "transfer problem"- is one of the classic questions in international economics. In this paper we use cross-country data on real exchange rates and a newly constructed data set on countries' net external positions to...

In this paper, the determination of long-run movements in nominal exchange rates across countries are examined. The author models the long-run movement in the nominal exchange rate as depending on (1) the long-run inflation differential and (2) the long-run change in the real exchange rate. He...

We analyze an economy that lacks a strong legal-political institutional infrastructure and is propulated by multiple powerful groups. Powerful groups dynamically interact via a fiscal process that effectively allows open access to the aggregate capital stock. In equilibrium, this leads to slow...

We explore the impact of European monetary union (EMU) on the economies of the member countries. While the annual dispersion in inflation rates have not been much different to the variation across US regions, inflation differentials in the euro area have been much more persistent, such that...

We construct estimates of external assets and liabilities for over 140 countries over the period 1970-2004. We describe our estimation methods and present some key features of the data, both at the country and at the global level. We focus in particular on trends in net and gross external...

We provide a brief review and analysis of recent trends in international financial integration. In particular, we highlight the asymmetric nature of financial globalization, with the scale of cross-border positions among the advanced economies growing more quickly than for emerging market...

Recently, there have been numerous advances in modelling optimal international portfolio allocations in macroeconomic models. A major focus of this literature has been on the role of currency movements in determining portfolio returns that may hedge various macroeconomic shocks. However, there...