Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/109617 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
ADB Working Paper Series on Regional Economic Integration No. 124
Publisher: 
Asian Development Bank (ADB), Manila
Abstract: 
In this paper, we analyze data on trends since 2000 in foreign holdings of government securities and other debt securities, with emphasis on Japan and developing Asia. We find that foreign residents generally increased their holdings of Asian debt securities during the sample period and in particular during the post-global financial crisis (GFC) period. Meanwhile, foreign holdings of debt securities have been declining in the eurozone. Foreign holdings of short-term debt securities were very volatile during the GFC period (2009–11), with a sharp drop in foreign holdings of short-term Asian debt securities that was followed by a renewed surge. Our empirical analysis suggests that despite the increase in foreign holdings of debt securities its share is still far lower than the optimal portfolio warranted by the capital asset pricing market theory. In other words, foreign investors’ home bias is still strong. The overall increase in foreign holdings of Asian debt securities appears to be driven by relatively stable exchange rates and the higher risk-adjusted returns on the debt securities of the region. Additionally, we find that investors were more "home-biased" during the GFC period and invested less in the markets of the major industrialized economies.
Subjects: 
Government debt
government securities
government bonds
government bills
government notes
debt securities
debt financing
debt holdings
foreign debt holdings
international capital flows
short-term capital movements
cross-border portfolio investments
safe haven
home bias
capital asset pricing model
optimal portfolios
global financial crisis
eurozone
Japan
developing Asia
JEL: 
F32
F34
G15
O53
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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