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Cross-Border Trading as a Mechanism for Capital Flight: ADRs and the Argentine Crisis

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  • Sebastian Auguste
  • Kathryn M.E. Dominguez
  • Herman Kamil
  • Linda L. Tesar

Abstract

This paper examines the surprising performance of the Argentine stock market in the midst of the country's most recent financial crisis and the role played by ADRs in Argentine capital flight. Although Argentine investors were subject to capital controls, they were able to purchase stocks with associated ADRs for pesos in Argentina, convert them into ADRs, re-sell them in New York for dollars and deposit the dollar proceeds in U.S. bank accounts. In the paper we show that: (1) ADR discounts went as high as 60% (indicating that Argentine investors were willing to pay significant amounts in order to legally move their funds abroad), (2) the market anticipated (correctly) a 40% devaluation, (3) local market factors in Argentina became more important in pricing peso denominated stocks with associated ADRs, while the same stocks in New York were mainly priced based on global factors, (4) capital outflow using the ADR market was substantial (our estimate is between $835 million and $3.4 billion)

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  • Sebastian Auguste & Kathryn M.E. Dominguez & Herman Kamil & Linda L. Tesar, 2002. "Cross-Border Trading as a Mechanism for Capital Flight: ADRs and the Argentine Crisis," NBER Working Papers 9343, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:9343
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    Cited by:

    1. Eduardo Levy Yeyati & Sergio Luis Schmukler & Neeltje Van Horen, 2006. "International Financial Integration through the Law of One Price," Business School Working Papers 2006-01, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella.
    2. Auguste, Sebastian & Dominguez, Kathryn M.E. & Kamil, Herman & Tesar, Linda L., 2006. "Cross-border trading as a mechanism for implicit capital flight: ADRs and the Argentine crisis," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(7), pages 1259-1295, October.
    3. Kristin J. Forbes, 2007. "The Microeconomic Evidence on Capital Controls: No Free Lunch," NBER Chapters, in: Capital Controls and Capital Flows in Emerging Economies: Policies, Practices, and Consequences, pages 171-202, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Eduardo Levy-Yeyati & Sergio L. Schmukler & Neeltje van Horen, 2010. "Crises, Capital Controls and Financial Integration," Chapters, in: Masahiro Kawai & Mario B. Lamberte (ed.), Managing Capital Flows, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Chamon, Marcos & Garcia, Márcio, 2016. "Capital controls in Brazil: Effective?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 163-187.
    6. Kathryn M. E. Dominguez & Linda L. Tesar, 2007. "International Borrowing and Macroeconomic Performance in Argentina," NBER Chapters, in: Capital Controls and Capital Flows in Emerging Economies: Policies, Practices, and Consequences, pages 297-348, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Michael, Bryane, 2015. "Foreign Under-Investment in US Securities and the Role of Relational Capital," EconStor Preprints 109961, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    8. Kathryn Dominguez, 2014. "Exchange Rate Implications of Reserve Changes: How Non-EZ European Countries Fared during the Great Recession," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 56(2), pages 229-252, June.
    9. Brahima Coulibaly, 2009. "Currency unions and currency crises: an empirical assessment," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(3), pages 199-221.
    10. Jillian Faucette & Alexander Rothenberg & Francis Warnock, 2005. "Outflows-induced sudden stops," Journal of Economic Policy Reform, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 119-129.
    11. González, Maximiliano & Garay, Urbi, 2012. "Market Segmentation: Venezuelan ADRs," Galeras. Working Papers Series 035, Universidad de Los Andes. Facultad de Administración. School of Management.
    12. Wong, Anna, 2021. "Capital flight: The travel channel," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    13. Marina Halac & Sergio Schmukler, 2003. "Distributional effects of crises : the role of financial transfers," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3173, The World Bank.
    14. Padma Kadiyala & Avanidhar Subrahmanyam, 2004. "Divergence of US and Local Returns in the After‐market for Equity Issuing ADRs," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 10(3), pages 389-411, September.

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    JEL classification:

    • F32 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Current Account Adjustment; Short-term Capital Movements
    • F36 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Financial Aspects of Economic Integration

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