This paper examines the effectiveness of capital account policy in terms of its ability to affect the volume and composition of capital flows, relieve pressures on real exchange rates, and foster monetary policy independence. Ten emerging Asian economies are used as case studies to assess the...

This paper empirically investigates the relationship between the speed of buildup of private debt (household and corporate) and the depth of recessions. To do this, we differentiate between financial recessions and normal recessions on the basis of how quickly their private debt builds up. In...

This paper analyzes the conduct and effects of macroprudential policy in 11 Asian economies. Of these, India, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea frequently used loan-to-value ratios and required reserve ratios even before the global financial crisis. India and the People's...

Extreme precipitation and flooding cause large-scale impacts on people, and are further intensified by rapid urbanization, infrastructure expansion, and large numbers of people residing in informal settlements in destitute conditions. This underscores the need to characterize the impacts of...

This paper shows that signals from the offshore Hong Kong, China spot market for the currency of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the renminbi (listed as CNH), directly affect the volatility of share prices of PRC banks and the overall risks to banking stability in the country. This is...

Despite solid evidence regarding the large benefits of reducing disaster risk, it has remained difficult to motivate sustained investment into disaster risk reduction (DRR). Recently, international policy debate has started to emphasize the need for focusing DRR investment toward actions that...

The long-term economic consequences of catastrophic disasters are poorly understood. This lacuna is surprising since the long-term effects may be much more important than the short-term emergency phase. In contrast, the policy literature is full of aspirational plans to "build back better" (BBB)...

Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries face severe financing difficulties, especially when trying to expand internationally. "Information friction" is a significant cause of this financing gap. Recent financial technologies (fintech) can improve supply chain finance...

We examine the link between extreme weather events and national aid and transfers at the municipal level in the Philippines between 1992 and 2015. Using local-level data of public income and expenditures, local precipitation, poverty incidence, and satellite-based night light luminosity, we find...

We reflect state-owned enterprises' (SOE) leverage within the standard debt sustainability assessment framework. Based on company data and the interest coverage ratio as a measure of debt at risk, aggregate baseline projections and fan charts gauge SOE debt as a contingent liability to the...