An ongoing active debate considers the role of the Global Financial Cycle (GFC) in driving international capital flows - especially in emerging economies - as well as the policy options available to absorb their impact. We make two contributions to the debate. First, we rely on a structural measure of the GFC developed in a companion paper to identify episodes of large capital flows and currency crises driven by global conditions. Second, using both OLS and instrumental variables we evaluate whether the availability and actual use of elements of the Global Financial Safety Net (GFSN) can help emerging markets cushion the impact of these episodes. We find some evidence that potential access to IMF support can help countries. We also find that the use of IMF support and reserves cushions the impact of global shocks on GDP growth. This effect is quite heterogeneous across types of crises and across time, as it is mostly present during currency crises, and the benefits only occur with a delay.
The post-Global Financial Crisis period shows a surge in corporate leverage in emergingmarkets and a number of countries with deteriorated corporate financial fragility indicators (Altman's Z-score). Firm size plays a critical role in the relationship between leverage, firm fragility and exchange rate movements in emerging markets. While the relationship between firm-leverage and distress scores varies over time, the relationship between firm size and corporate vulnerability is relatively time-invariant. All else equal, large firms in emerging markets are more financially vulnerable and also systemically important. Consistent with the granular origins of aggregate fluctuations in Gabaix (2011), idiosyncratic shocks to the sales growth of large firms are positively and significantly correlated with GDP growth in our emerging markets sample. Relatedly, the negative impact of exchange rate shocks has a more acute impact on the sales growth of the more highly levered large firms.
How does FinTech credit mitigate local credit supply frictions in China's segmented credit market? In our simple theoretical models, we show that FinTech credit (i) expands the extensive margin of credit to borrowers of lower credit scores and (ii) provides relatively more credit to borrowers with lower credit scores. We confirm both predictions based on comprehensive data from one of China's largest FinTech credit providers.
The sharp declines in oil prices starting in late 2014 sparked a debate about their effect on inflation and the world economy (e.g. GEP January 2015). The decline in oil prices lowered inflation in the short run and in some cases pushed some economies that already experience very low inflation into deflation. More surprisingly, data from the US, Euro area, UK and Israel shows that oil prices have a strong correlation with inflation expectations for the medium term, as measured by five-year breakeven inflation rates. Before the global financial crisis this correlation was weaker and expectations were firmly anchored at the 2% level. However, from the onset of the global crisis, the correlation is quite high (Table 1 and Figure 1). In this note we decompose the change in oil prices to global demand and supply shocks. Using this decomposition we show that following the onset of the crisis inflation expectations reacted quite strongly to global demand conditions and oil supply shocks. These findings suggest that the public’s belief in the ability of monetary authorities to stabilize inflation at the medium term horizon has deteriorated. This could be due to A. greater emphasis put by monetary authorities on stabilizing economic activity as opposed to stabilizing inflation. B. Asymmetric behavior of central banks with respect to negative deviations from the inflation target. C. The public’s perception about the effectiveness of monetary policy around the zero lower bound.
Beginning with the global financial crisis (2008) the correlation between crude oil prices and medium-term and forward inflation expectations increased leading to fears of their un-anchoring. Using the first principal component of commodity prices as a measure for global aggregate demand, we decompose nominal oil prices to a global demand factor and remaining factors. Using a Phillips Curve framework we find a structural change after the collapse of Lehman Brothers when inflation expectations reacted more strongly to global aggregate demand conditions embedded in oil prices. Within this framework we cannot reject the hypothesis that expectations remained anchored.
The increasing globalization of trade in goods and services and the deepening of financial markets have reduced frictions that may impede the operation of the PPP and UIP relationships in the short run. In this paper, we estimate the short term relative PPP and UIP relationships. Using data from Israel, which has a deep market for inflation expectations for 12 months, we show that relative PPP and UIP cannot be rejected. Deviations from equilibrium last less than a year. Data from Israel’s capital account of the balance of payments shows that the deviations are not destabilizing. Our findings suggest that greater globalization and financial deepening contribute to the effectiveness of monetary policy.
We use tax and historical records to analyze the Parisian taille - an institution that resolved the tax compliance problem. The taille’s essential features were; an agreement between the king and city government to collect a fixed amount of revenue and a sequential collection process that included public revelation of individual tax assessments prior to their collection. Modelling the taille tax game shows both features are necessary for a unique equilibrium of efficient tax compliance. A social norm that allocated this tax mainly to the elites provided for its peaceful collection. Data from 14th century Paris show the desired revenues were efficiently collected with high levels of compliance, despite minimal bureaucratic machinery.
Access to formal banking is increasing across the world and may transform how people manage their finances. We report from a field experiment that randomly provides access to a bank account to a representative sample of villagers in rural India. The treated respondents save actively into the account and their individual savings increase. There is, however, no significant impact on mean household savings nor on average expenditures, income, loans or transfers. Based on weekly data from financial diaries, we show the control households partially smooth consumption through transfers received from others. The treated households smooth consumption (and nutrition) better than the control households, thanks to pro-cyclical saving on the account. The latter result provides an important new insight into the role of banking in low and middle-income countries.
