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A Model of Sovereign Debt in Democracies

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  • Ali Alichi

Abstract

This paper develops and empirically tests a political economy model of sovereign debt. The main incentive for repaying sovereign debt is to maintain access to international capital markets. However, in a democracy, one generation may choose default regardless of its consequences for future generations. An old generation with little concern for its country's access to capital markets can force a default on debt if it has the majority of voters. On the other hand, if the younger generation is more numerous, it can force repayment of previously defaulted debt. Other voter heterogeneities, such as in income, can generate similar results.

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  • Ali Alichi, 2008. "A Model of Sovereign Debt in Democracies," IMF Working Papers 2008/152, International Monetary Fund.
    • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2008/152
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    Cited by:

    1. Eduardo Borensztein & Ugo Panizza, 2009. "The Costs of Sovereign Default," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 56(4), pages 683-741, November.
    2. Crifo, Patricia & Diaye, Marc-Arthur & Oueghlissi, Rim, 2017. "The effect of countries’ ESG ratings on their sovereign borrowing costs," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 13-20.
    3. Yong Kyun Kim, 2017. "Inequality and Sovereign Default under Democracy," Journal of Economics and Financial Analysis, Tripal Publishing House, vol. 1(1), pages 81-115.
    4. Nicolas Afflatet, 2019. "Public Interest Payments and Bond Yields: A Panel Data Estimation for the Eurozone," Applied Economics and Finance, Redfame publishing, vol. 6(1), pages 109-117, January.

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