In July 1997, the economies of East Asia became embroiled in one of the worst financial crises of the postwar period. Yet, prior to the crisis, these economies were seen as models of economic growth experiencing sustained growth rates that exceeded those earlier thought unattainable. Why did the...

The Chinese economy has been reasonably stable during the Asian financial crisis. However, there is a widespread speculation about the prospect of the stability of RMB, the Chinese currency. While the Chinese government has repeatedly promised the stability of RMB, many oversea economists have...

This paper studies how an appreciation of the yuan affects the exports of other Asian countries. It finds mixed effects. Countries that export consumer goods to China or compete in third markets benefit from yuan appreciation, while countries that supply capital goods to China lose. These...

Most proposals for Asian monetary cooperation assign a special role to the Japanese yen as an anchor currency. We focus instead on the potential role of the Chinese renminbi. It becomes increasingly clear that China will assume the role of the dominant economy in the region, and that it will...

The financial crises of the late 1990s in Asian and South American countries have once again highlighted the negative implications of development strategies characterized by high levels of foreign currency external indebtedness. In light of these events, South-South cooperation is conceived as...

This paper shows that the real investment by non-financial firms is systematically related to the size of their defined-benefit plan. In particular, these plans allow R&D-intensive firms to retain and borrow from their employees, which is attractive since they have high adjustment costs, require...

We evaluate whether financial openness leaves emerging market economies vulnerable to the adverse effects of capital reversals (sudden stops) on domestic investment. We investigate this claim in a broad sample of emerging markets during the period 1976-2002. If the banking sector does not...

We assess the conditions under which exchange rate fluctuations are contractionary for firm-level investment. To address this question, we match firm-level balance sheet data with a large dataset of firm-level bonds for about 1,000 firms from 36 emerging market economies over the period...

We assess the conditions under which exchange rate fluctuations are contractionary for firm-level investment. To address this question, we match firm-level balance sheet data with a large dataset of firm-level bonds for about 1,000 firms from 36 emerging market economies over the period...

In the last few decades there has been little convergence of income levels in Latin America with those in the United States, in sharp contrast with both emerging Asia and emerging Europe. This paper argues that lack of convergence was not the result of low investment. Latin America is poorer...