Countries with intermediate levels of institutional quality suffer larger output contractions following sudden stops of capital inflows than less developed nations. However, countries with strong institutions seldom experience significant falls in output after capital flow reversals. We...

This paper investigates the extent to which national elections affect capital flows. I find little evidence of political capital flow cycles in advanced economies. In emerging and developing countries, however, presidential elections have a significant impact on foreign direct investment (FDI)...

Evidence supporting the positive effects of capital account liberalization on growth is mixed at best. Even after conditioning on the quality of domestic financial institutions, a significant number of studies still find no effect. One possible explanation is reverse causation. If low growth...

Sudden stops have been linked to a number of financial crises in emerging market countries. While a large literature has developed emphasizing the importance of institutions and governance in reducing economic volatility, this paper finds that the effect of government quality on the incidence of...