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The international diversification puzzle is not as bad as you think

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Jonathan Heathcote
Fabrizio Perri

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Abstract

In simple one-good international macro models, the presence of non-diversifiable labor income risk means that country portfolios should be heavily biased toward foreign assets. The fact that the opposite pattern of diversification is observed empirically constitutes the international diversification puzzle. We embed a portfolio choice decision in a frictionless two-country, two-good version of the stochastic growth model. In this environment, which is a workhorse for international business cycle research, we derive a closed-form expression for equilibrium country portfolios. These are biased towards domestic assets, as in the data. Home bias arises because endogenous international relative price fluctuations make domestic stocks a good hedge against non-diversifiable labor income risk. We then use our theory to link openness to trade to the level of diversification, and find that it offers a quantitatively compelling account for the patterns of international diversification observed across developed economies in recent years.

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Paper provided by Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis in its series Staff Report with number 398.

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Date of creation: 2007
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Handle: RePEc:fip:fedmsr:398

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  41. Christian Julliard, 2003. "The international diversification puzzle is not worse than you think," International Finance 0301004, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Akito Matsumoto, 2007. "The Role of Nonseparable Utility and Nontradeables in International Business Cycle and Portfolio Choice," IMF Working Papers 07/163, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  2. Eric van Wincoop & Francis E. Warnock, 2006. "Is Home Bias in Assets Related to Home Bias in Goods?," NBER Working Papers 12728, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Cédric Tille & Eric van Wincoop, 2007. "International capital flows," Staff Reports 280, Federal Reserve Bank of New York. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Andrea Raffo, 2006. "Net exports, consumption volatility, and international real business cycle models," Research Working Paper RWP 06-01, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Fabio Ghironi & Jaewoo Lee & Alessandro Rebucci, 2007. "The Valuation Channel of External Adjustment," NBER Working Papers 12937, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Devereux, Michael B & Saito, Makoto, 2006. "A Portfolio Theory of International Capital Flows," CEPR Discussion Papers 5746, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, 2006. "The Research Agenda: Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas on Global Imbalances and Financial Factors," EconomicDynamics Newsletter, Review of Economic Dynamics, vol. 7(2), April. [Downloadable!]
  8. Martin D. D. Evans & Viktoria Hnatkovska, 2005. "International Capital Flows, Returns and World Financial Integration," NBER Working Papers 11701, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Martin D. D. Evans & Viktoria Hnatkovska, 2005. "Solving General Equilibrium Models with Incomplete Markets and Many Assets," NBER Technical Working Papers 0318, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Fabrice Collard & Harris Dellas & Behzad Diba & Alan Stockman, 2007. "Goods Trade and International Equity Portfolios," NBER Working Papers 13612, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Viktoria Hnatkovska & Martin Evans, 2005. "International Capital Flows in a World of Greater Financial Integration," Computing in Economics and Finance 2005 419, Society for Computational Economics. [Downloadable!]
  12. Charles Engel & Akito Matsumoto, 2005. "Portfolio Choice in a Monetary Open-Economy DSGE Model," IMF Working Papers 05/165, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. Michael B. Devereux & Alan Sutherland, 2008. "Country portfolios in open economy macro models," Globalization and Monetary Policy Institute Working Paper 09, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. [Downloadable!]
  14. Kollmann, Robert, 2006. "International Portfolio Equilibrium and the Current Account," CEPR Discussion Papers 5512, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Cedric Tille, 2005. "Financial integration and the wealth effect of exchange rate fluctuations," Staff Reports 226, Federal Reserve Bank of New York. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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