IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/rba/rbardp/rdp2007-11.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Global Imbalances and the Global Saving Glut – A Panel Data Assessment

Author

Listed:
  • Anthony Legg

    (Reserve Bank of Australia)

  • Nalini Prasad

    (Reserve Bank of Australia)

  • Tim Robinson

    (Reserve Bank of Australia)

Abstract

Since the late 1990s there have been substantial changes in the current account balances of a number of economies, most notably a marked widening in the current account deficit of the United States and increased net lending by many developing nations to developed economies. This paper uses panel data to examine what may have contributed to changes in the current account positions of a wide sample of developing and developed economies. In particular, we aim to assess the ‘global saving glut’ hypothesis that financial crises have contributed to the current account surpluses in developing economies. Overall, we find some support for this argument; there is a significant role for financial crises as well as institutional factors in determining current account balances. However, the model captures the broad trends evident in international capital flows for only some of the major regions in our sample.

Suggested Citation

  • Anthony Legg & Nalini Prasad & Tim Robinson, 2007. "Global Imbalances and the Global Saving Glut – A Panel Data Assessment," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp2007-11, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    • Handle: RePEc:rba:rbardp:rdp2007-11
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/rdp/2007/pdf/rdp2007-11.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:wsi:wschap:9789813225343_0010 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Chinn, Menzie D. & Prasad, Eswar S., 2003. "Medium-term determinants of current accounts in industrial and developing countries: an empirical exploration," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 47-76, January.
    3. repec:ags:stataj:116069 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Lucas, Robert E, Jr, 1990. "Why Doesn't Capital Flow from Rich to Poor Countries?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(2), pages 92-96, May.
    5. Chinn, Menzie D. & Ito, Hiro, 2007. "Current account balances, financial development and institutions: Assaying the world "saving glut"," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 546-569, June.
    6. Bruno, Giovanni S.F., 2005. "Approximating the bias of the LSDV estimator for dynamic unbalanced panel data models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 87(3), pages 361-366, June.
    7. Laura Alfaro & Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan & Vadym Volosovych, 2007. "Capital Flows in a Globalized World: The Role of Policies and Institutions," NBER Chapters,in: Capital Controls and Capital Flows in Emerging Economies: Policies, Practices, and Consequences, pages 19-72 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Graciela L. Kaminsky, 2003. "Varieties of Currency Crises," NBER Working Papers 10193, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Michael P. Dooley & David Folkerts-Landau & Peter M. Garber, 2004. "The US Current Account Deficit and Economic Development: Collateral for a Total Return Swap," NBER Working Papers 10727, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Michael P. Dooley & David Folkerts-Landau & Peter Garber, 2007. "Direct Investment, Rising Real Wages and the Absorption of Excess Labor in the Periphery," NBER Chapters,in: G7 Current Account Imbalances: Sustainability and Adjustment, pages 103-132 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Richard Disney, 1996. "Can We Afford to Grow Older?," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026204157x.
    12. Paul R. Bergin & Steven M. Sheffrin, 2017. "Interest Rates, Exchange Rates and Present Value Models of the Current Account," World Scientific Book Chapters,in: International Macroeconomic Interdependence, chapter 10, pages 287-316 World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    13. Kiviet, Jan F., 1995. "On bias, inconsistency, and efficiency of various estimators in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 53-78, July.
    14. Gruber, Joseph W. & Kamin, Steven B., 2007. "Explaining the global pattern of current account imbalances," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 500-522, June.
    15. David M. Drukker, 2003. "Testing for serial correlation in linear panel-data models," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 3(2), pages 168-177, June.
    16. Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Ross Levine, 2000. "A New Database on the Structure and Development of the Financial Sector," World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 14(3), pages 597-605, September.
    17. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    18. Judson, Ruth A. & Owen, Ann L., 1999. "Estimating dynamic panel data models: a guide for macroeconomists," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 9-15, October.
    19. Anderson, T. W. & Hsiao, Cheng, 1982. "Formulation and estimation of dynamic models using panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 47-82, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Michael Graff & Kam-Ki Tang & Jie Zhang, "undated". "Demography, Financial Openness, National Savings and External Balance," MRG Discussion Paper Series 2008, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    2. Gossé, Jean-Baptiste & Serranito, Francisco, 2014. "Long-run determinants of current accounts in OECD countries: Lessons for intra-European imbalances," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 451-462.
    3. Luis M. Cubeddu & Signe Krogstrup & Gustavo Adler & Pau Rabanal & Mai Chi Dao & Swarnali A Hannan & Luciana Juvenal & Carolina Osorio Buitron & Cyril Rebillard & Daniel Garcia-Macia & Callum Jones & J, 2019. "The External Balance Assessment Methodology: 2018 Update," IMF Working Papers 19/65, International Monetary Fund.
    4. Graff Michael & Tang Kam Ki. & Zhang Jie, 2012. "Does Demographic Change Affect the Current Account? A Reconsideration," Global Economy Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 12(4), pages 1-26, December.
    5. Giancarlo Bertocco, 2014. "Global Saving Glut and Housing Bubble: A Critical Analysis," Economia politica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 195-218.
    6. Kam Ki Tang & Michael Graff & Jie Zhang, "undated". "Macroeconomic Fluctuations in Emerging Economies: An Unobserved Components Approach," MRG Discussion Paper Series 4111, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    current accounts; financial crises; capital flows;

    JEL classification:

    • 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

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rba:rbardp:rdp2007-11. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Paula Drew). General contact details of provider: http://edirc.repec.org/data/rbagvau.html .

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.