International Capital Markets (international + capital_market)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting


Selected Abstracts


The Euro and International Capital Markets

INTERNATIONAL FINANCE, Issue 1 2000
Carsten Detken
Long before the introduction of the euro there was an active debate among researchers, policy-makers and financial market participants over how the new European money would change the relative roles of currencies in the international monetary and financial system. A widely held view was that the euro's use in international capital markets would be the key element. Therefore, this paper provides a broad empirical examination of the major currencies' roles in international capital markets, with a special emphasis on the first year of the euro. A contribution is made as to how to measure these roles, both from the viewpoint of international financing and from that of international investment activities. Time series of these new measures are presented, including euro aggregates calculated up to six years back in time. The data allow for the identification of changes in the role of the euro during 1999 compared to the aggregate of euro predecessor currencies, net of intra-euro area assets/liabilities, since the start of stage 2 of EMU in 1994. A number of key factors determining the currency distribution of international portfolio investments, such as relative market liquidity and relative risk characteristics of assets, are also examined empirically. It turns out that for almost all important market segments for which data are available, the euro immediately became the second most widely used currency for international financing and investment. For the flow of international bond and note issuance it even slightly overtook the US dollar in the second half of 1999. The data also suggest that most of this early supply of euro bonds by non-euro area residents, clearly exceeding the euro-predecessor currency aggregate, is actually absorbed by euro area residents and not by outside investors so far. [source]


Why Do Firms Raise Foreign Currency Denominated Debt?

EUROPEAN FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2001
Evidence from Finland
This study examines the determinants of the decision to raise currency debt. The results suggest that hedging figures importantly in the currency,of,denomination decision: firms in which exports constitute a significant fraction of net sales are more likely to raise currency debt. However, firms also tend to borrow in periods when the nominal interest rate for the loan currency, relative to other currencies, is lower than usual. This is consistent with the currency debt issue decision being affected by speculative motives. Large firms, with a wider access to the international capital markets, are more likely to borrow in foreign currencies than small firms. [source]


Keeping Capital Flowing: The Role of the IMF,

INTERNATIONAL FINANCE, Issue 3 2004
Michael D. Bordo
In this paper, we examine the role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in maintaining the access of emerging market economies to international capital markets. We find evidence that both macroeconomic aggregates and capital flows improve following the adoption of an IMF programme, although they may initially deteriorate somewhat. Consistent with theoretical predictions and earlier empirical findings, we find that IMF programmes are most successful in improving capital flows to countries with bad, but not very bad, fundamentals. In such countries, IMF programmes are also associated with improvements in the fundamentals themselves. [source]


Identifying the Role of Moral Hazard in International Financial Markets

INTERNATIONAL FINANCE, Issue 1 2004
Steven B. Kamin
Abstract Considerable attention has been paid to the possibility that large-scale IMF-led financing packages may have distorted incentives in international financial markets, leading private investors to provide more credit to emerging market countries, and at lower interest rates, than might otherwise have been the case. Yet, prior attempts to identify such distortions have yielded mixed evidence, at best. This paper makes three contributions to our ability to assess the empirical importance of moral hazard in international financial markets. First, it is argued that, because large international ,bail-outs' did not commence until the 1995 Mexican crisis, financial indicators prior to that time could not have reflected a significant degree of this type of moral hazard. Therefore, one test for the existence of moral hazard is that the access of emerging markets to international credit is significantly easier than it was prior to 1995. Second, the paper argues that because private investors expect large-scale IMF-led packages to be extended primarily to economically or geo-politically important countries, moral hazard, if it exists, should lead these countries to have easier terms of access to credit than smaller, non-systemically important countries. Finally, in addition to looking at bond spreads, the focus of earlier empirical analyses of moral hazard, the paper also examines trends in capital flows to gauge the access of emerging market countries to external finance. Looking at the evidence in light of these considerations, the paper concludes that there is little support for the view that moral hazard is significantly distorting international capital markets at the present time. [source]


The Euro and International Capital Markets

INTERNATIONAL FINANCE, Issue 1 2000
Carsten Detken
Long before the introduction of the euro there was an active debate among researchers, policy-makers and financial market participants over how the new European money would change the relative roles of currencies in the international monetary and financial system. A widely held view was that the euro's use in international capital markets would be the key element. Therefore, this paper provides a broad empirical examination of the major currencies' roles in international capital markets, with a special emphasis on the first year of the euro. A contribution is made as to how to measure these roles, both from the viewpoint of international financing and from that of international investment activities. Time series of these new measures are presented, including euro aggregates calculated up to six years back in time. The data allow for the identification of changes in the role of the euro during 1999 compared to the aggregate of euro predecessor currencies, net of intra-euro area assets/liabilities, since the start of stage 2 of EMU in 1994. A number of key factors determining the currency distribution of international portfolio investments, such as relative market liquidity and relative risk characteristics of assets, are also examined empirically. It turns out that for almost all important market segments for which data are available, the euro immediately became the second most widely used currency for international financing and investment. For the flow of international bond and note issuance it even slightly overtook the US dollar in the second half of 1999. The data also suggest that most of this early supply of euro bonds by non-euro area residents, clearly exceeding the euro-predecessor currency aggregate, is actually absorbed by euro area residents and not by outside investors so far. [source]


Microeconomic effects of capital controls: The chilean experience during the 1990s

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FINANCE & ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2003
Francisco A. Gallego
Abstract This paper provides empirical evidence on some of the microeconomic effects of the capital controls introduced in Chile during the 1990s, in particular, the unremunerated reserve requirement (URR). By looking at financial statements for a group of 73 Chilean firms during 1986,2001, the paper attempts to identify the effects of the URR on the firms' costs and ways of financing. Results show that the effects of the URR are firm specific; for instance, there are striking differences in the response to the URR among firms of different size and those with or without access to international capital markets. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Event study concerning international bond price effects of credit rating actions

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FINANCE & ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2001
Manfred Steiner
Abstract The influence of credit ratings on eurobond prices has been neglected for a long time. It is questionable whether non-US investors relate their investment decisions on US ratings and whether ratings from US agencies are relevant information sources for international capital markets. This paper examines daily excess eurobond returns associated with announcements of watchlistings and rating changes by Standard & Poor's and Moody's. Significant bond price reactions are observed for announcements of downgradings and negative watchlistings while upgradings and positive watchlistings do not cause announcement effects. Distinct from the results on national capital markets the international evidence shows that besides actual yield level and issuer type the issuer nationality is a key factor that determines the intensity of price reactions after downgrades. The price reaction is also significantly stronger for downgrades into speculative grade. This indicates, that the announcement effects can in part be explained by price pressure effects due to regulatory constraints rather than original information content of rating changes. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Economic Policy and Social Policy: Policy-linkages in an Era of Globalisation

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WELFARE, Issue 1 2000
Dong-Myeon Shin
This article argues that changes in the role of the state in economic affairs will affect the process of social policy. Growing economic integration caused by globalisation now places a greater constraint upon the discretion of the nation state, bringing about a transformation into a more competitive state. States are increasingly having to compete against each other in order to promote competitiveness and attract foreign direct investment (FDI) from international capital markets. This competition influences in turn the social policy formation requiring the redesigning of social policy. Thus, welfare states may need to reform their social policy towards a "business-friendly social policy". The analysis of social policy inputs and outputs presented here suggests that there are common trends in most welfare states towards: a market-conforming policy on business taxation, a reduction of the share of employer's contributions in social protection revenues, more limited income security programmes, an increased allocation of resources for active labour market programmes and less state intervention in the labour market. All these reforming trends in social policy can be understood as a response of welfare states to the evolving needs of business caused by structural change, notably globalisation. [source]


Voluntary Disclosure by State-owned Enterprises Listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong

JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT & ACCOUNTING, Issue 2 2002
Michael J. Ferguson
This study examines the impact of international capital market pressures on the voluntary disclosure of three types of information (strategic, financial, and non-financial) in the annual reports of former wholly state-owned People's Republic of China (PRC) enterprises, listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK). Consistent with a costĀ­benefit framework, we find that PRC H-Share firms disclose significantly more strategic and financial information than other SEHK firms. Additional analysis of disclosures in their home listings on the PRC exchanges, however, suggests an alternative explanation. The fact that these firms have been selected for "showcasing" in international capital markets may also play a role in our findings. While H-Share firm disclosures in the PRC also appear sensitive to management's assessment of the associated costs, the magnitude of differences across listing locations suggests that disclosure practices on the SEHK may also reflect the effects of state-encouraged disclosure policies. Our findings contribute to the understanding of disclosure behavior among former wholly state-owned enterprises and to the emerging literature on the efficacy of the privatization process. [source]


The pricing of foreign currency options under jump-diffusion processes

THE JOURNAL OF FUTURES MARKETS, Issue 7 2007
Chang Mo Ahn
In this article, the authors derive explicit formulas for European foreign exchange (FX) call and put option values when the exchange rate dynamics are governed by jump-diffusion processes. The authors use a simple general equilibrium international asset pricing model with continuous trading and frictionless international capital markets. The domestic and foreign price level are introduced as state variables that contain jumps caused by monetary shocks and catastrophic events such as 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina. The domestic and foreign interest rates are stochastic and endogenously determined in the model and are shown to be critically affected by the jump risk of the foreign exchange. The model shows that the behavior of FX options is affected through the impact of state variables and parameters on the nominal interest rates. The model contrasts with those of M. Garman and S. Kohlhagen (1983) and O. Grabbe (1983), whose models have exogenously determined interest rates. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 27:669,695, 2007 [source]