American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Renegotiation Policies in Sovereign Defaults
American Economic Review
vol. 104,
no. 5, May 2014
(pp. 94–100)
Abstract
This paper studies an optimal renegotiation protocol designed by a benevolent planner when two countries renegotiate with the same lender. The solution calls for recoveries that induce each country to default or repay, trading off the deadweight costs and the redistribution benefits of default independently of the other country. This outcome contrasts with a decentralized bargaining solution where default in one country increases the likelihood of default in the second country because recoveries are lower when both countries renegotiate. The paper suggests that policies geared at designing renegotiation processes that treat countries in isolation can prevent contagion of debt crises.Citation
Arellano, Cristina, and Yan Bai. 2014. "Renegotiation Policies in Sovereign Defaults." American Economic Review, 104 (5): 94–100. DOI: 10.1257/aer.104.5.94Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H63 National Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt