Sovereign debt disputes: A database on government coerciveness during debt crises

Enderlein, Henrik; Trebesch, Christoph; Daniels, Laura von (2012): Sovereign debt disputes: A database on government coerciveness during debt crises. In: Journal of International Money and Finance, Vol. 31, No. 2: pp. 250-266

Abstract

This paper measures \" debt disputes\" between governments and foreign private creditors in periods of sovereign debt crises. We construct an index of government coerciveness, consisting of 9 objective sub-indicators. Each of these sub-indicators captures unilateral government actions imposed on foreign banks and bondholders. The results provide the first systematic account of debt crises that goes beyond a binary categorization of default versus non-default. Overall, government behavior and rhetoric show a strong variability, ranging from highly confrontational to very smooth crisis resolution processes. In a preliminary analysis on the determinants of coercive behavior, we find political institutions to be significant, while economic and financial factors play a lesser role. These results open up an agenda for future research.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Economics; Economics > Chairs > Junior Professor in Public Finance
• Subjects: 300 Social sciences > 330 Economics
• Language: English