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The impact of financial (de)regulation on current account balances

Author

Listed:
  • Enrique Moral-Benito

    (Banco de España)

  • Oliver Roehn

    (OECD and CESIFO)

Abstract

Global imbalances and financial market (de)regulation both feature prominently among the potential causes of the global financial crisis, but they have been generally discussed separately. In this paper, we take a different angle and investigate the relationship between financial market regulation and current account balances, an area for which there is limited empirical evidence. We use a panel of countries over the period 1980-2010 and employ a novel empirical approach which allows us to simultaneously account for model uncertainty, current account persistence and unobserved heterogeneity. We find robust evidence that financial market regulations affect current account balances and that different aspects of these regulations can have opposing effects on the current account. In particular we find that lowering bank entry barriers is negatively associated with the current account balance. In contrast, bank privatisation and securities market deregulation tend to raise current account balances. Our results also highlight the need to control for persistence and unobserved heterogeneity. Once we control for these factors, we find robust evidence for a wide range of current account theories in contrast to previous studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Enrique Moral-Benito & Oliver Roehn, 2014. "The impact of financial (de)regulation on current account balances," Working Papers 1424, Banco de España.
  • Handle: RePEc:bde:wpaper:1424
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    current account; financial markets; financial regulation; Bayesian model averaging; model uncertainty;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C11 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Bayesian Analysis: General
    • F32 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Current Account Adjustment; Short-term Capital Movements
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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