Publications

27 Jun 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Fiscal Rules and Sovereign Default

Keywords: by Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk; Banking

01 Aug 2016
Working Paper Summaries

The Costs of Sovereign Default: Evidence from Argentina

Keywords: by Jesse Schreger and Benjamin Hebert

April 2006 (Revised December 2006)
Case

The Barber of Buenos Aires: Argentina's Debt Renegotiation

By: Noel Maurer and Aldo Musacchio

Tells the story of Argentina's aggressive strategy for renegotiating its sovereign debt from 2003 to 2005. Most creditors accepted the offer to swap their debt for new securities worth 35 cents on the dollar, with no recognition of all past-due interest. Many holdouts,... View Details

Keywords: Private Sector; Borrowing and Debt; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; International Finance; Foreign Direct Investment; Sovereign Finance; Government and Politics; Negotiation Tactics; Outcome or Result; Situation or Environment; Argentina

10 Aug 2011
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty Views on Debt Crisis

When Standard & Poor's Rating Services lowered its long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States from AAA to AA+ on August 5, it was a shot heard 'round the world. Stock markets plummeted, investors covered their eyes,... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

08 Aug 2011
News

HBS Faculty on Downgrading US Debt

August 2015
Article

A Comparative-Advantage Approach to Government Debt Maturity

By: Robin Greenwood, Samuel G. Hanson and Jeremy C. Stein

We study optimal government debt maturity in a model where investors derive monetary services from holding riskless short-term securities. In a setting where the government is the only issuer of such riskless paper, it trades off the monetary premium associated with... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Finance; Debt Securities

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25 Apr 2014
News

To Pay Or Not To Pay: Argentina And The International Debt Market

15 Sep 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Debt Redemption and Reserve Accumulation

Keywords: by Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk

25 Apr 2014
Research & Ideas

To Pay or Not to Pay: Argentina and the International Debt Market

fight for the long haul. The legal battle will culminate in the United States Supreme Court, with a ruling expected in June. Not Setting Precedent While most observers remain focused on the outcome of the Argentina case, the bigger question is what impact the case will... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Alfaro

June 2014
Article

Frictions in Shadow Banking: Evidence from the Lending Behavior of Money Market Funds

By: Sergey Chernenko and Adi Sunderam

We document the consequences of money market fund risk taking during the European sovereign debt crisis. Using a novel data set of security-level holdings of prime money market funds, we show that funds with large exposures to risky Eurozone banks suffered significant... View Details

Keywords: Money Market Mutual Funds; European Sovereign Debt Crisis; Runs; Contagion; Risk Taking; Investment Funds; Financial Crisis; Europe

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July 2002 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Fresh Start? Peru's Legacy of Debt and Default (A)

By: Julio J. Rotemberg and Lisa Lewis

Considers the situation facing Alberto Fujimori as he takes office in 1990. Pays particular attention to Peru's long history of international borrowing, default, and renegotiation. This history suggests that the costs imposed by foreigners on Peru when it failed to... View Details

Keywords: History; International Finance; Sovereign Finance; Economy; Borrowing and Debt; Peru

February 2016
Case

Debt and Democracy: The New York Constitutional Convention of 1846

By: David Moss and Dean Grodzins

On September 23, 1846, delegates to New York State's constitutional convention prepared to vote on a proposal that its principal proponent, Michael Hoffman, conceded would be “a serious change in our form of government.” The proposal would place tight restrictions on... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Finance; Governance; Laws and Statutes; Government and Politics; History; New York (state, US)

June 1985 (Revised August 1994)
Background Note

U.S. Government Debt Market and the Structure of Interest Rates, The

Concerns U.S. Government Debt Market and various conventions used to depict the structure of interest rates. View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Finance; Bonds; Interest Rates

August 2007
Teaching Note

Creditor Activism in Sovereign Debt: "Vulture" Tactics or Market Backbone (TN)

By: Laura Alfaro and Ingrid Vogel

Teaching Note to 706057. View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Financing and Loans; Bonds; Contracts; Investment Activism

14 Apr 2022
News

China Hesitates on Bailing Out Sri Lanka, Pakistan as Debt Soars

October 2014
Article

Sovereigns, Upstream Capital Flows and Global Imbalances

By: Laura Alfaro, Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan and Vadym Volosovych

We construct measures of net private and public capital flows for a large cross-section of developing countries considering both creditor and debtor side of the international debt transactions. Using these measures, we demonstrate that sovereign-to-sovereign... View Details

Keywords: Current Account; Aid/government Debt; Reserves; Puzzles; Productivity; Sovereign Finance; Developing Countries and Economies; Macroeconomics

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1986
Chapter

Investing in the Defense Workforce: The Debt and Structure of Military Pensions

By: Dutch Leonard

Keywords: Human Capital; Compensation and Benefits; Borrowing and Debt; Sovereign Finance; National Security

2019
Chapter

From Coast to Hinterland: Fiscal State Formation in British and French West Africa, c. 1880–1960

By: Ewout Frankema and Marlous van Waijenburg

This chapter contrasts and compares the ways different colonial states in West Africa developed local fiscal capacity. We show that per capita revenues were higher in the more commercialised coastal export economies than in remote parts of the interior. We argue that... View Details

Keywords: Fiscal Capacity; Public Debt; French West Africa; British West Africa; Geography; History; Africa

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February 1992 (Revised July 1993)
Case

Telefonica de Argentina S.A.

Deals with the privatization of the Argentine telephone industry. Focuses on the restructuring aspect. Commercial banks owned sovereign debt of Argentina trading at a deep discount to par. The question is whether the banks should exchange their sovereign debt... View Details

Keywords: Financial Instruments; Restructuring; Privatization; Commercial Banking; Telecommunications Industry; Argentina