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This paper reviews developments in private capital flows to developing countries since the Mexican financial crisis in December 1994. The paper points out that a strong recovery in these flows masks some significant changes in their characteristics, particularly in the type of borrowers back toward sovereigns and the currency denomination of new issues shifted away from U.S. dollars. Terms of new bond issues became significantly less favorable than before the Mexican crisis. One of the most striking developments was the sharp increase in bond placements by developing countries in deutsche mark and yen. It is shown that relatively favorable credit ratings assigned by Japanese rating agencies facilitated some developing countries to tap the yen bond market.

Finance: General --- Investments: Bonds --- Investments: Stocks --- Portfolio Choice --- Investment Decisions --- International Financial Markets --- General Financial Markets: General (includes Measurement and Data) --- Pension Funds --- Non-bank Financial Institutions --- Financial Instruments --- Institutional Investors --- Investment & securities --- Finance --- Bonds --- International bonds --- Stock markets --- Stocks --- International capital markets --- Financial institutions --- Financial markets --- Stock exchanges --- Capital market --- United States

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This paper investigates empirically the degree of international integration of industrial and emerging country equity markets. It analyzes two issues: first, the extent to which equity prices have tended to move similarly across countries and regions in the long run; and second, the strength of cross-country “contagion” effects. The paper’s findings suggest that both intra-regional and inter-regional linkages across national equity markets have strengthened in recent years. In addition, using impulse response functions, the paper shows that cross-country contagion effects of country-specific shocks dissipate in a matter of weeks while contagion effects of global shocks take several months to unwind themselves.

Finance: General --- Investments: Stocks --- Macroeconomics --- General Financial Markets: General (includes Measurement and Data) --- Price Level --- Inflation --- Deflation --- Pension Funds --- Non-bank Financial Institutions --- Financial Instruments --- Institutional Investors --- Financial Aspects of Economic Integration --- International Financial Markets --- Finance --- Investment & securities --- Stock markets --- Emerging and frontier financial markets --- Stocks --- Price indexes --- Asset prices --- Financial markets --- Financial institutions --- Prices --- Stock exchanges --- Financial services industry --- United States

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Insurance enterprises provide services, called insurance services, to policyholders. The values of such services are seldom, if ever, directly apparent; rather these values are implicitly entwined within the payment of premiums. This paper discusses the treatment of insurance services, and related transactions, in the balance of payments. A simple measure, based on a number of assumptions, of nonlife insurance services is considered. The assumptions underlying this measure are then relaxed. The treatment of life insurance, which has many of the characteristics of nonlife insurance, is then addressed. The paper concludes with a discussion on the practical aspects of measuring insurance transactions in the balance of payments.

Exports and Imports --- Insurance --- Macroeconomics --- Industries: Financial Services --- Economic Methodology --- Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Macroeconomic Data --- Data Access --- International Economics: General --- Insurance Companies --- Actuarial Studies --- Pension Funds --- Non-bank Financial Institutions --- Financial Instruments --- Institutional Investors --- Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions --- Trade: General --- Insurance & actuarial studies --- Finance --- International economics --- Insurance companies --- Personal income --- Imports --- Income

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The issue of informational efficiency in the evolution of asset prices is examined using data on equity markets in Jordan, Turkey and Pakistan over the period 1986–93. The analysis is carried out in two steps. The parameters of agents’ dynamic consumption and investment decisions are first estimated, and then the implied equity market price, based on market fundamentals, is compared with the actual evolution of equity market prices. While the informational efficiency of each of the three markets is found to be deficient, the causes of market inefficiency are varied. For Jordan it appears that a large negative shock to economic activity in the late 1980s caused agents to discount market fundamentals. For Turkey and Pakistan it is likely that institutional and legal rigidities in equity and banking markets resulted in these markets being illiquid, although this lack of market depth did reduce in severity for Turkey over the sample period, as liberalization of financial markets occurred.

Econometrics --- Finance: General --- Investments: Stocks --- Macroeconomics --- Model Evaluation and Selection --- Macroeconomics: Consumption --- Saving --- Wealth --- General Financial Markets: General (includes Measurement and Data) --- Pension Funds --- Non-bank Financial Institutions --- Financial Instruments --- Institutional Investors --- Price Level --- Inflation --- Deflation --- Estimation --- Finance --- Investment & securities --- Econometrics & economic statistics --- Stock markets --- Stocks --- Asset prices --- Consumption --- Estimation techniques --- Financial markets --- Financial institutions --- Prices --- National accounts --- Econometric analysis --- Stock exchanges --- Economics --- Econometric models --- Turkey

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This study provides information on official financing for developing countries with the focus on low- and lower-middle-income countries. It updates the 1995 edition and reviews developments in direct financing by official and multilateral sources. Topics of interest include external debt sustainability for heavily indebted poor countries; new official financing flows to developing countries; developments in export credits; financing from multilateral institutions; debt restructuring by official bilateral creditors; plus, numerous appendices.

Arrears --- Banking --- Banks --- Debt burden --- Debt Management --- Debt service --- Debt --- Debts, External --- Debts, Public --- Depository Institutions --- Export credit --- Export credits --- Exports and Imports --- External debt --- Finance --- Financial Instruments --- Financial Risk Management --- Financial services law & regulation --- Fiscal Policy --- Fiscal policy --- Foreign Aid --- Industries: Financial Services --- Institutional Investors --- International economics --- International Lending and Debt Problems --- International relief --- International Trade Organizations --- International trade --- Investment & securities --- Loans --- Macroeconomics --- Micro Finance Institutions --- Mortgages --- Non-bank Financial Institutions --- Pension Funds --- Public and publicly-guaranteed external debt --- Public finance & taxation --- Public Finance --- Social Services and Welfare --- Social welfare & social services --- Sovereign Debt --- Trade Policy --- Russian Federation