This paper investigates the shortand long-run relationship between domestic wealth, capital stock and the net foreign asset position of industrialised and developing countries. Using cointegration techniques, a link between output per capita, the stock of public debt and age distribution on saving, investment and hence, the net external wealth of countries is established. Public debt, GDP per c...

With the financial crises ongoing in Greece and Venezuela, sovereign debt crises have become more and more prominent in the public eye. Thus, it has become important to be able to predict when nations will enter such debt crises. We collected publicly available data in order to train models to predict, given a nation’s economic status in one year, whether they would be in a debt crisis the next...

This paper discusses some issues on how to evaluate the impact of HIPC debt relief in the cases of Tanzania and Zambia using two computable general equilibrium models. Within our relatively simple model framework, we found that the macroeconomic impact of debt relief is modest. One reason for this relatively modest impact is that the annual injection of additional resources relative to current ...

Behavioral economics presents a “paternalistic”rationale for benevolent government intervention. This paper presents a model of public debt where voters have self-control problems and attempt to commit by accumulating illiquid assets. We introduce politicians who may indulge/exploit voters’behavioral biases. Three main insights emerge: (i) Individuals’attempts to privately undo the consequences...

This paper discusses some issues on how to evaluate the impact of HIPC debt relief in the cases of Tanzania and Zambia using two computable general equilibrium models. Within our relatively simple model framework, we found that the macroeconomic impact of debt relief is modest. One reason for this relatively modest impact is that the annual injection of additional resources relative to current ...

Recent international agreements on tax data sharing aim to facilitate residence based taxation of capital and thus mitigate tax competition. I show that residence based capital tax rates can still decline with the number of financially integrated countries when public spending and debt are used strategically. While suboptimal in the steady state, strategic policies persist during transition if ...

Agency theory posits that debt-like compensation (such as defined-benefit pensions and other deferred compensation) aligns managerial interests more closely with those of debtholders and reduces the agency cost of debt. Consistent with theory, we find that a higher CEO relative leverage, defined as the ratio of the CEO's inside leverage (debt-toequity compensation) to corporate leverage, is ass...

Increasing market discipline has emerged as a major policy issue for banking regulators. The most prominent proposals for increasing market discipline would require banks to issue subordinated debt to the public. This paper explores the fundamental rationale behind mandatory subordinated debt proposals and their advantages and disadvantages. Our analysis indicates that a subordinated debt requi...

I develop a novel link between frictions in international financial markets and fiscal procyclicality. Complementing existing evidence, A decomposition of government expenditure into social spending and public good spending reveals that the cyclical correlation of social spending exhibits the biggest differences across countries. I build a small open economy model with income inequality, endoge...

This paper examines the long term profile of fiscal deficit and debt relative to GDP in India, with a view to analysing debt-deficit sustainability issues along with the considerations relevant for determining suitable medium and short-term fiscal policy stance. The impact of debt and fiscal deficit on growth and interest rates that arises from their effect on saving and investment are critical...