Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/83632 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
MNB Working Papers No. 2009/4
Publisher: 
Magyar Nemzeti Bank, Budapest
Abstract: 
Differences in financial systems are often named as a prime candidate for the current state of global imbalances. This paper argues that the process of capital liberalization can explain a substantial fraction of the US net external liabilities. We present a simple two-country model with an internationally traded bond, in which capital controls are reflected in the presence of borrowing and lending constraints on that bond. In a US versus the rest of the world (RoW) scenario, we perform experiments that are largely consistent with countries' liberalization experiences. A reduction in the RoW's controls on capital outflows and/or a tightening in the RoW's borrowing constraint enables the US economy to better insure against consumption risk relative to the rest of the world, and therefore decreases its motives for precautionary asset holdings relative to the rest of the world. As a result of these asymmetric shifts in countries' barriers to capital mobility, the US runs a long run external deficit.
Subjects: 
Capital Liberalization
External Imbalances
Net Foreign Asset Position
Precautionary Savings
Borrowing and Lending Constraints
JEL: 
F32
F34
F41
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.