Showing papers by "Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti published in 2000"

Good, Bad or Ugly? On The Effects of Fiscal Rules with Creative Accounting

Abstract: Do fiscal rules likely lead to fiscal adjustment, or do they encourage the use of 'creative accounting'? This question is studied with a model in which fiscal rules are imposed on 'measured' fiscal variables, which can differ from 'true' variables because there is a margin for creative accounting. The probability of detecting creative accounting depends on its size and the transparency of the budget. The model studies the effects on fiscal policy of different rules, separating structural from cyclical effects, and examines how these effects depend on the underlying fiscal distortion and on the degree of transparency of the budget.

The Transfer Problem Revisited: Net Foreign Assets and Real Exchange Rates

Abstract: The relationship between international payments and the real exchange rate--the transfer problem--is a classic question in international economics. We use new data on countries' net external positions together with real exchange rate data to shed light on this question. We present a model yielding testable implications on the long-run co-movements of real exchange rates, external positions, relative GDP and terms of trade, and cross-country and time-series evidence on the subject. Countries with net external liabilities are found to have more depreciated real exchange rates, with the main channel of transmission working through the relative price of nontraded goods.

External capital structure: theory and evidence*

Abstract: Recent years have witnessed a change in the composition of capital flows to developing countries, and FDI and equity flows have been playing an increasing role. In this paper we discuss the challenges for international macroeconomics that these developments pose and characterize stylized facts associated with the structure of external liabilities in developing countries, focusing in particular on FDI and equity stocks.

The Transfer Problem Revisited : Net Foreign Assets and Real Exchange Rates

Abstract: The relationship between international payments and the real exchange rate—the “transfer problem”—is a classic question in international economics. We use new data on countries’ net external positions together with real exchange rate data to shed light on this question. We present a model yielding testable implications on the long-run co-movements of real exchange rates, external positions, relative GDP and terms of trade, and cross-country and time-series evidence on the subject. Countries with net external liabilities are found to have more depreciated real exchange rates, with the main channel of transmission working through the relative price of nontraded goods.

External Capital Structure: Theory and Evidence

Abstract: Recent years have witnessed a change in the composition of capital flows to developing countries, and FDI and equity flows have been playing an increasing role. In this paper we discuss the challenges for international macroeconomics that these developments pose and characterize stylized facts associated with the structure of external liabilities in developing countries, focusing in particular on FDI and equity stocks.

Good, Bad or Ugly?on the Effects of Fiscal Rules with Creative Accounting

Abstract: Do fiscal rules likely lead to fiscal adjustment, or do they encourage the use of ‘creative accounting’? This question is studied with a model in which fiscal rules are imposed on ‘measured’ fiscal variables, which can differ from ‘true’ variables because there is a margin for creative accounting. The probability of detecting creative accounting depends on its size and the transparency of the budget. The model studies the effects on fiscal policy of different rules, separating structural from cyclical effects, and examines how these effects depend on the underlying fiscal distortion and on the degree of transparency of the budget.

External Capital Structure: Theory and Evidence

Abstract: Recent years have witnessed a change in the composition of capital flows to developing countries, and FDI and equity flows have been playing an increasing role. In this paper we discuss the challenges for international macroeconomics that these developments pose and characterize stylized facts associated with the structure of external liabilities in developing countries, focusing in particular on FDI and equity stocks.

The Transfer Problem Revisited: Net Foreign Assets and Real Exchange Rates

Abstract: The relationship between international payments and the real exchange rateiXthe "transfer problem"- is one of the classic questions in international economics. In this paper we use cross-country data on real exchange rates and a newly constructed data set on countries' net external positions to shed new light on this old question. We present a simple theoretical framework that leads to empirically testable implications for the long-run co-movements of real exchange rates, net foreign assets, relative GDP and the terms of trade, and cross-country and time-series evidence on the subject. We show that, on average, countries with net external liabilities have more depreciated real exchange rates, and that the main channel of transmission seems to work through the relative price of nontraded goods, rather than through the relative price of traded goods across countries.

Anticipating Balance of Payments Crises--The Role of Early Warning Systems; The Role of Early Warning Systems

Abstract: Recent years have witnessed an increase in the frequency of currency and balance of payments crises in developing countries. More important, the crises have become more virulent, have caused widespread disruption to other developing countries, and have even had repercussions on advanced economies. To predict crises, their causes must be clearly understood. Two competing strands of theories are reviewed in this paper. The first focuses on the consequences of such policies as excessive credit growth in provoking depletion of foreign exchange reserves and making a devaluation enevitable. The second emphasizes the trade-offs between internal and external balance that the policymaker faces in defending a peg.