Publications

Article

Undisclosed Debt Sustainability

By: Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk

Over the past decade, non-Paris Club creditors, notably China, have become an important source of financing for low- and middle-income countries. In contrast with typical sovereign debt, these lending arrangements are not public, and other creditors have no information... View Details

Keywords: Paris Club; Transparency; Sovereign Finance; Borrowing and Debt; International Finance

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October 2021 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Deficits and Debt: The U.S. Current Account

By: Laura Alfaro and Richard Vietor

February 2018
Case

Lisbon Revisited

By: Laura Alfaro and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason

December 2016 (Revised January 2017)
Supplement

Colombia: the National System for Competitiveness and Innovation

By: Laura Alfaro and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason

August 2012
Article

Surviving the Global Financial Crisis: Foreign Ownership and Establishment Performance

By: Laura Alfaro and Maggie Chen

We examine the differential response of establishments to the recent global financial crisis with particular emphasis on the role of foreign ownership. Using a worldwide establishment panel dataset, we investigate how multinational subsidiaries around the world... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Financial Crisis; Multinational Firms and Management; Analytics and Data Science; Business Subsidiaries; Production; Finance; Performance; Ownership

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March 2010 (Revised May 2013)
Supplement

Foreign Direct Investment and Ireland's Tiger Economy (B)

By: Laura Alfaro and Matthew Johnson

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Northern Ireland

March 2009 (Revised May 2013)
Supplement

Kinyuseisaku: Monetary Policy in Japan (B)

By: Laura Alfaro and Akiko Kanno

Toshihiko Fukui, Governor of the Bank of Japan, faced a complex situation in the fall of 2007. An economic recovery had allowed the central bank to abandon its zero interest rate policy, which had been in place for years, and raise rates to 0.5%. The Bank of Japan was... View Details

Keywords: Inflation and Deflation; Money; Central Banking; Interest Rates; Policy; Japan

November 2006 (Revised May 2007)
Background Note

International Capital Markets and Sovereign Debt: Crisis Avoidance and Resolution

By: Laura Alfaro and Ingrid Vogel

Successive economic crises of the 1990s and early 2000s intensified focus on reform of the "international financial architecture." Because many of these crises involved defaults on sovereign bonds, an important component of the discussion revolved around the... View Details

Keywords: Capital; Markets; Sovereign Finance; Conflict and Resolution; Financial Crisis

October 2002 (Revised March 2009)
Background Note

Foreign Direct Investment

By: Laura Alfaro and Esteban Clavell

Briefly reviews motivations and trends behind foreign direct investment and multinational corporations as well as the policy debate that surrounds them. View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Foreign Direct Investment; Multinational Firms and Management; Policy; Business and Government Relations

2006
Working Paper

Optimal Reserve Management and Sovereign Debt

By: Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk

2005
Working Paper

Debt Maturity: Is Long-Term Debt Optimal?

By: Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk

March 2009 (Revised May 2011)
Case

The Credit Suisse/Gerson Lehrman Group Alliance

By: Robert G. Eccles and Laura Winig

The equity research department of Credit Suisse and the expert network firm of Gerson Lehrman Group, historically competitors, have established a strategic alliance which both believe will give them a competitive advantage. Under the leadership of its head of equity... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Financial Crisis; Investment Banking; Innovation and Invention; Alliances; Social and Collaborative Networks; Competitive Advantage; Banking Industry

February 2003 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Bombardier: Canada versus Brazil at the WTO

By: Rawi E. Abdelal, Laura Alfaro and Brett Laschinger

In less than a decade, Bombardier had grown from a medium-size Canadian company to a highly profitable global player largely on the strength of the introduction of a new generation of regional jet and successfully marketing its product to airlines around the world.... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Global Strategy; Five Forces Framework; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Business and Government Relations; Situation or Environment; Competition; Air Transportation Industry; Canada; Brazil

30 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 30

disproportionately affected by international financial integration. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/07-012.pdf Nominal versus Indexed Debt: A Quantitative Horse Race Authors:Laura Alfaro... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2019
Working Paper

Undisclosed Debt Sustainability

By: Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk

Over the past decade, non–Paris Club creditors, notably China, have become an important source of financing for low- and middle-income countries. In contrast with typical sovereign debt, these lending arrangements are not public, and other creditors have no information... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Debt; Transparency; Sustainability; Sovereign Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Information; China

2019
Working Paper

Fiscal Rules and Sovereign Default

By: Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk

Recurrent concerns over debt sustainability in emerging and developed nations have prompted renewed debate on the role of fiscal rules. Their optimality, however, remains unclear. We provide a quantitative analysis of fiscal rules in a standard model of sovereign debt... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Debt; Hyperbolic Discounting; Fiscal Rules; Sovereign Finance

2015
Working Paper

Multinational Activity and Information and Communication Technology

By: Laura Alfaro and Maggie Chen

July 15, 2013
Other Article

Pseudo-flexible Exchange-rate Regimes

By: Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk

According to the IMF, last decade saw a number of countries actively managing their exchange rates. Is this a good way for emerging economies to protect themselves from the large swings of international markets? This column presents a new "pseudo-flexible" exchange... View Details

Keywords: Flexibility; International Markets; Managing Exchange Rates; Currency Exchange Rate