Publications

December 2020
Article

Sovereign Debt Portfolios, Bond Risks, and the Credibility of Monetary Policy

By: Wenxin Du, Carolin Pflueger and Jesse Schreger

We document that governments whose local currency debt provides them with greater hedging benefits actually borrow more in foreign currency. We introduce two features into a government's debt portfolio choice problem to explain this finding: risk-averse lenders and... View Details

Keywords: Investment Portfolio; Currency; Policy; Risk and Uncertainty

October 2011
Case

Sovereign Wealth Funds: Barbarians at the Gate or White Knights of Globalization?

By: Aldo Musacchio and Emil Staykov

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Finance; Investment; Globalization

June 2006 (Revised February 2007)
Teaching Note

Private Capital and Public Policy: Standard & Poor's Sovereign Credit Ratings (TN)

By: Rawi E. Abdelal

Keywords: Public Sector; Credit; Financial Services Industry

September 2012 (Revised July 2013)
Case

Can the Eurozone Survive?

By: Dante Roscini and Jonathan Schlefer

The sovereign debt crisis that took Greece by storm in 2010 began to spread to other European markets. Within a few months Ireland and Portugal had also lost access to the sovereign debt markets and had to rely on supranational loans for their financing. The risk of... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Debt Crisis; Currency Areas; Financial Crisis; Borrowing and Debt; Currency Exchange Rate; International Relations; Banking Industry; European Union; Germany; France; Italy; Spain; Greece; Portugal

2010
Chapter

Property Rights for Foreign Capital: Sovereign Debt and Private Direct Investment in Times of Crisis

By: Louis T. Wells

Keywords: Property; Rights; International Finance; Capital; Sovereign Finance; Foreign Direct Investment; Financial Crisis

2009
Chapter

Property Rights for Foreign Capital: Sovereign Debt and Private Direct Investment in Times of Crisis

By: Louis T. Wells

Keywords: Property; Rights; International Finance; Capital; Sovereign Finance; Foreign Direct Investment; Financial Crisis

June 2019
Article

Debt Redemption and Reserve Accumulation

By: Laura Alfaro and Fabio Kanczuk

In the past decade, foreign participation in local-currency bond markets in emerging countries increased dramatically. We revisit sovereign debt sustainability under the assumptions that countries can accumulate reserves and borrow internationally using their own... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Debt; Local-currency Bonds; Foreign Reserves; Sovereign Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Bonds; Financial Markets; Developing Countries and Economies

March 2017 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Mubadala and EBX: To X or to X It?

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz, Ricardo Andrade and Sayiddah Fatima McCree

In April 2012, Mubadala, Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund invested $2 billion in Brazilian conglomerate EBX, believing the company to be undervalued by the public markets. Shortly thereafter, however, EBX and its multiple business lines began to spiral downward. Hani... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Wealth Funds; Conglomerates; Investing; Corporate Structure; International; Sovereign Finance; Business Conglomerates; Investment; Financing and Loans; Restructuring; Organizational Structure; Economy; Brazil; Abu Dhabi

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

2012
Working Paper

Leviathan in Business: Varieties of State Capitalism and Their Implications for Economic Performance

By: Aldo Musacchio and Sergio G. Lazzarini

In this paper we document the extent and reach of state capitalism around the world and explore its economic implications. We focus on governmental provision of capital to corporations—either equity or debt—as a defining feature of state capitalism. We present a... View Details

Keywords: State Capitalism; State-owned Enterprises; Development Banks; Sovereign Wealth Funds; Economic Systems; State Ownership; Sovereign Finance; Business and Government Relations; Investment

April 2013 (Revised February 2018)
Case

Norway: The Embarrassment of Riches

By: Sophus A. Reinert, Forest Reinhardt and Senny Munthe-Kaas

In early 2013, Norway was by many accounts the world’s most developed country; it topped various indices for everything from democracy to happiness, had a comprehensive welfare state, and massive oil revenues endowed it with a substantial, and growing, Sovereign Wealth... View Details

Keywords: Sovereign Wealth Funds; Welfare State; Natural Resources; Internationalization; Dutch Disease; Happiness; Macroeconomics; Energy Sources; Values and Beliefs; Sovereign Finance; Immigration; Welfare; Energy Industry; Norway

March 2024 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Norway: An Embarrassment of Riches

By: Sophus A. Reinert, Forest Reinhardt and Jens-Henrik Munthe-Kaas

Keywords: Sovereign Wealth Funds; Welfare State; Internationalization; Dutch Disease; Macroeconomics; Energy Sources; Values and Beliefs; Sovereign Finance; Immigration; Welfare; Natural Resources; Happiness; Energy Industry; Norway

February 1989
Article

Buybacks, Exit Bonds, and the Optimality of Debt and Liquidity Relief

By: K. A. Froot

Keywords: Chapter 7; Debt Reduction; Default; Sovereign Debt; Debt Crisis; Debt Restructuring; Borrowing and Debt

September 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Case

Qatar: Energy for Development

By: Aldo Musacchio, Colin Donovan, Samir Mikati, Rami Sarafa and Abdulla AlMisnad

Despite being the richest country in the world on a per capita basis, for analysts Qatar belongs in the group of emerging markets considered "frontier markets." This case analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the development strategy of this small country as set... View Details

Keywords: Frontier Markets; State-owned Enterprises; State Capitalism; Sovereign Wealth Funds; Economic Development; Sovereign Finance; State Ownership; Development Economics; Energy Industry; Middle East; Qatar

1990
Book

Market-Based Debt Reduction for Developing Countries: Principles and Prospects

By: K. Froot, S. Claessens, I. Diwan and P. Krugman

Keywords: Debt Reduction; Chapter 7; Default; Debt Restructuring; Sovereign Debt; Debt Crisis; Borrowing and Debt

September 2008 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Khosla Ventures: Biofuels Strategy

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, William A. Sahlman and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

By 2008, a number of the firm's early cleantech investments were showing promise, and the companies were starting to need significantly more money to create the massive scale required in the energy sector. As Khosla thought about the hundreds of millions of dollars... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Marketing; Entrepreneurial Finance; New Product Development; Partnerships; Entrepreneurial Management; Venture Capital; Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Investment Funds; Environmental Sustainability; Product Development; Biotechnology Industry; Financial Services Industry

25 Apr 2014
Research & Ideas

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

Editor's note. Argentina is in the midst of a continuing saga regarding its 2002 default on its sovereign debt, a case that the US Supreme Court will decide soon. HBS finance professor Laura Alfaro, who... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Alfaro

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