Arbeitspapier
States as Financiers: International Lending in War and Peace
Autoren
Erscheinungsdatum
JEL Classification
Schlagworte
Afrika
Geoökonomie
Politische Ökonomie
Krieg
Amerika
Asien
China
Geldpolitik
Internationale Finanzen
Globalisierung
Direktinvestitionen
Fiskalpolitik & Haushalt
Finanzmärkte
Europäische Union & Euro
Schwellen-& Entwicklungsländer
Wirtschafts- & Finanzkrisen
States are major international financiers, but their role is poorly understood. We study state-driven cross-border lending over two centuries using a new database covering 1.2 million official loans and grants by 134 governments and 70 multilateral institutions since 1790. We document a dual, state-contingent structure of international credit. In normal times, private creditors dominate cross-border lending. In adverse states of the world, such as wars and financial crises, official creditors step in, at times on a massive scale. These official flows are driven by great powers, are highly subsidized, and are largely absent from canonical models in international macroeconomics.
