Sergio Schmukler - Böcker

Back in the early 1990s, economists and policy makers had high expectations about the prospects for domestic capital market development in emerging economies, particularly in Latin America. Unfortunately, they are now faced with disheartening results. Stock and bond markets remain illiquid and segmented. Debt is concentrated at the short end of the maturity spectrum and denominated in foreign currency, exposing countries to maturity and currency risk. Capital markets in Latin America look particularly underdeveloped when considering the many efforts undertaken to improve the macroeconomic environment and to reform the institutions believed to foster capital market development. The disappointing performance has made conventional policy recommendations questionable, at best. Emerging Capital Markets and Globalization analyzes where we stand and where we are heading on capital market development. First, it takes stock of the state and evolution of Latin American capital markets and related reforms over time and relative to other countries. Second, it analyzes the factors related to the development of capital markets, with particular interest on measuring the impact of reforms.And third, in light of this analysis, it discusses the prospects for capital market development in Latin America and emerging economies and the implications for the reform agenda.

This book sheds light on the analytical, empirical, and policy dimensions of a basic stylized fact - that the development of local capital markets in most of Latin America has been quite poor relative to other emerging economies and to global trends. Importantly, it discusses the implications for the capital market reform agenda going forward, emphasizing the need for revisions to the prevalent policy paradigm.

Since the last wave of financial crises in the late-1990s and early 2000s, the financial systems of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have continued to gain in soundness, depth, and diversity. For all the gains, however, many challenges remain. In many respects, LAC’s financial services industry is underdeveloped by international comparisons, notably, bank credit to the private sector lags and domestic equity markets remain liquidity. Furthermore, the provision of long-term finance—whether to households, firms, or infrastructure—is probably well below what would be desired. This book aims to meet the dual challenge of stock-taking and reassessment of the state of financial development in LAC, so as to set on firmer grounds the financial development agenda going forward. The chapters offer a comprehensive analysis of the status, prospects, and challenges of sustainable financial development in the region. Rather than going in detail into sector-specific issues, the book focuses on the main architectural issues, overall perspectives, and inter-connections. Its value added thus hinges on its holistic view of the development process, its broad coverage of the financial services industry beyond just banking, its emphasis on comparisons and benchmarking, its systemic perspective, and its explicit effort to incorporate the lessons from the recent global financial crisis.