It has been argued that "buy-backs" and "debt-equity swaps" allow developing countries to benefit from market discounts on their external debt. It is argued here, however, that if such programs are expected to be successful in increasing the market value of remaining debt, they also lead to a...

Buy-backs of external debt that are financed by the debtor through asset sales generally result in unchanged or lower market prices for remaining debt. The contractual value of debt is reduced by some multiple of the market value of assets sold. The use of assets as collateral for new debt that...

This paper tests alternative assumptions concerning the time-series behavior of foreign exchange rates. Data for about 20,000 individual trades on foreign exchange options for dollar exchange rates against six major currencies carried out from February 1983 to June 1985 are analyzed. The tests...

This paper focuses on the portfolio-balance model as a framework for addressing several unresolved issues about the behavior of exchange rates. A major objective is to contribute to an understanding of the relative importance of the different channels through which current account imbalances may...

Empirical tests incorporating measures of capital flight from developing countries that are substantially different from those used in existing studies suggest that capital flight can be explained by differences in risk perceived by residents and nonresidents in holding claims on residents of...

Determinants of the currency composition of foreign exchange reserves are examined for both industrial and developing countries. Empirical results indicate that the currency composition of reserves during the period 1976-85 has been influenced by each country's exchange rate arrangements, trade...

This paper reviews recent theoretical and empirical work on controls over international capital movements. Theoretical contributions reviewed focus on "second-best" arguments for capital market restrictions, as well as arguments based on multiple equilibria. The empirical literature suggests...

The early stages of transformation of centrally planned economies into market economies are examined. In the transitional phase when an economy is no longer centrally planned, but not yet market based--when it is a "previously centrally planned economy"--expectations play a key role. A model is...