Smoothing sudden stops [An article from: Journal of Economic Theory]

This digital document is a journal article from Journal of Economic Theory, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Emerging economies are often exposed to sudden shortages of international financial resources. Yet domestic agents do not seem to take preventive measures against these sudden stops. We highlight the central role played by the limited development of ex ante (insurance) and ex post (spot) domestic financial markets in generating this collective undervaluation of international resources. We study several policies to counteract the external underinsurance. We do this by solving for the optimal mechanism given the constraints imposed by limited financial development, and then considering the main financial policies-in terms of the model and practical relevance-that implement this solution.