This paper offers a theory of conditionality lending in 19th-century international capital markets. We argue that ownership of reputation signals by prestigious banks rendered them able and willing to monitor government borrowing. Monitoring was a source of rent, and it led bankers to support...

This paper discusses the role of state intervention for prevention, containment, and resolution of financial crises based mainly on the Korean experience during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Crises in emerging market and developing economies tend to be more complicated than those faced by...

The half-century before World War I has been characterized as the first age of financial globalization. This paper focuses on the role and significance of the bondholders` organizations for the governance of this market. I argue that the outcome of these institutions depended on two dimensions:...

On constate aujourd'hui, et cela etait sans doute encore plus vrai dans le passe, que l'integration aux marches internationaux de capitaux et la capacite d'emprunt sont des determinants fondamentaux du developpement economique. L'adoption d'institutions et de politiques economiques modernes par...

This paper introduces the concept of “debt intolerance,” which manifests itself in the extreme duress many emerging markets experience at debt levels that would seem manageable by advanced country standards. We argue that “safe” external debt-to-GNP thresholds for debt intolerant...

We show that exposure to foreign currency debt does not necessarily increase the risk of having a financial crisis. Some countries do not suffer from financial fragility despite original sin. Before 1913 British offshoots and Scandinavia afflicted with it avoided financial meltdowns. Today many...

Recent theoretical models suggest that the costs governments face when defaulting on their domestic and external debt may differ considerably. This paper examines if this proposed cost difference is reflected in sovereign risk spreads across domestic and foreign markets. Specifically, I analyze...

This paper shows that geographical investor heterogeneity strongly influences sovereign risk. While standard sovereign debt models mainly attribute the absence of sovereign defaults to foreign creditor retaliation, a new theoretical literature argues that domestic creditors also affect borrowing...

This second paper from Mauricio Avella describes the complete cycle of capital exports originating in the United States in the 1920’s: the conversion of United States into a creditor nation; the role of New York as the dominant financial center; and the distribution of United States...

Latin American access to international markets since the beginning of the 19th century has depended on the cyclical behaviour of foreign indebtedness. This document studies Great Britain’s cycles of boom and recession in international credit and Latin American participation on the...