Development of the banking system under the Estonian currency board

The choice of a suitable exchange rate regime is the subject of numerous discussions in economic literature. Estonia has been successful in achieving economic stabilization and growth and steadily declining inflation. It has one of the highest per capita foreign direct investments in central and eastern Europe. Estonia also has one of the most liberalized economies among all transition countries. An essential element of the success of Estonian economic development is strict exchange rate control. Estonia has adopted a currency board that serves as a signal of commitment to prudent monetary policy and as a guarantee of sound money during the transition period. This paper discusses the experience of operating the currency board, some future prospects of the currency board arrangement, and the development of the banking system in Estonia.     

Liquidity and Twin Crises

This paper proposes a simple analytical framework for understanding 'twin crises'– i.e. crises where a currency crisis and banking crisis occur simultaneously and reinforce each other. The distinguishing feature of such crises is the spill‐over effects across financial institutions through collateral constraints, declines in market values of assets, currency mismatches on the balance sheet and the endogenous amplification of financial distress through asset sales. We explore the role of liquidity and the role of monetary policy in such crises. In particular, a central question is whether raising interest rates in the face of a twin crisis is the appropriate policy response. Raising interest rates has two countervailing effects. Holding the domestic currency becomes more attractive (other things being equal), but the value of the domestic banking system falls due to the fall in asset prices. When assets are marked to market, there is a potential for endogenously generated financial distress that leads to a collapse of asset prices, as well as the exchange rate. It is thus possible that raising interest rates can have the perverse effect of exacerbating both the currency crisis and the banking crisis.     

银行危机与货币危机共生性关系的实证研究

1 997— 1 998年的亚洲金融风暴中 ,银行危机与货币危机的同时爆发 ,即共生性危机的发生引发国际社会与学术界对这种现象的重新思考 :这种共生性现象是否确实具有普遍性 ?从理论的角度来看 ,银行危机与货币危机之间的确存在着一定的联系 ,但到目前为止 ,很少有研究从实证的角度来证明这种联系的确存在。正是基于此 ,本文从实证的角度出发 ,旨在揭示出银行危机与货币危机之间的确存在着相互影响 ,换言之 ,共生性危机的发生是具有显著性的。具体来说 ,本文以 1 975— 2 0 0 0年期间 53个国家危机的发生情况为研究对象 ,分别运用频率分布、信号法 ,以及概率回归模型来分析两种危机的共生性 ,并得到非常一致的结论 :在新兴市场国家中 ,银行危机与货币危机之间的确存在着明显的相互关系 ,同时银行危机更趋向于作为货币危机即将发生的同步或预警指标 ,而反之则不然。     

我国银行的业务外包：问题与建议

本文在对国际国内银行业务外包进行比较分析的基础上，针对我国银行外包业务刚刚起步，业务范围狭隘、外包服务商不成熟、法律监管制度不健全等问题，提出如下政策建议：不同规模的银行应结合现有资源来选择其他包路线，根据外包战略逐步扩大外包业务范围，健全外包商的信用评级机制，完善法律环境并加强外部监管。     

A Simple Model of an International Lender of Last Resort

This paper develops a simple model of an international lender of last resort (ILOLR). The world economy consists of many open economies, each with its own banking system and its own central bank which uses its reserves to manage a pegged exchange rate. The fragility of the banking system and the limited ability of a domestic central bank to provide international liquidity together can cause currency and banking crises. An international interbank market can help an economy with the needed international liquidity, but this risk-sharing also comes with potential costs of international financial contagion. Such contagious risk is much higher when there is an international interbank market than otherwise. An ILOLR can play a useful role in providing international liquidity and reducing international contagion.     

Stability periods between financial crises: The role of macroeconomic fundamentals and crises management policies

This study aims to identify which factors explain why some countries enjoy long durations of stability, while others experience crises in shorter intervals. We analyze the duration of stability periods between currency, debt, and banking crises by employing an innovative econometric strategy, the Finite Mixture Model (FMM). Real and financial variables show high predictive power for stability spells between currency crises. Regarding debt crises, the real interest rate is observed to be the best predictor. The time between systemic financial crises appears to be prolonged through government interventions and through IMF program participation, while bank recapitalization has a negative impact.     

A corporate balance-sheet approach to currency crises

This paper presents a general equilibrium currency crisis model of the ‘third generation’, in which the possibility of currency crises is driven by the interplay between private firms’ credit-constraints and nominal price rigidities. Despite our emphasis on microfoundations, the model remains sufficiently simple that the policy analysis can be conducted graphically. The analysis hinges on four main features (i) ex post deviations from purchasing power parity; (ii) credit constraints a la Bernanke-Gertler; (iii) foreign currency borrowing by domestic firms; (iv) a competitive banking sector lending to firms and holding reserves and a monetary policy conducted either through open market operations or short-term lending facilities. We derive sufficient conditions for the existence of a sunspot equilibrium with currency crises. We show that an interest rate increase intended to support the currency in a crisis may not be effective, but that a relaxation of short-term lending facilities can make this policy effective by attenuating the rise in interest rates relevant to firms.     

The drivers of foreign currency‐based banking in Central and Eastern Europe

Foreign currency (FX)‐based loans and deposits became very popular in Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) over the 2000–2011 period. In this paper, I simultaneously examine the demand‐side (consumer‐related) and supply‐side (bank‐related) determinants of the quick spread of FX banking. I use a newly constructed dataset on FX and domestic currency loans, deposits and interest rates, covering 16 CEECs overtime. Local‐FX interest rate and market share spreads are: (1) lower in managed currency regimes; (2) strongly affected by the prevalence of FX funding, currency mismatch and FX banking restrictions, and (3) wider after economic crises.     

A few observations on financial liberalization and financial instability

Recent studies have conjectured that there may be a link between financial liberalization (FL) and financial instability in emerging economies. Most of these studies, however, do not investigate whether emerging economies are, in fact, becoming structurally more vulnerable to currency and banking crises. In this paper, I argue that emerging economies are becoming more susceptible to both currency and banking crises after FL. Using data for 27 emerging economies—excluding transition economies—from 1973 to the present, a univariate analysis indicates that the likelihood of currency crises may increase with stronger reactions to financial variables than to real or external trade variables. Similarly, for banking crises, interest rate, exchange rate, maturity, and default may increase, while simultaneously the support structure of the government seems to decline.     

边境贸易及人民币跨境结算问题研究——以广西壮族自治区为例

自2009年中国跨境贸易人民币结算试点开展以来,人民币结算额不断上升,但同时也面临一些问题。以广西为例,边境贸易发展推动了广西经济实力的上升,创新了银行业务,为跨境贸易人民币结算累积了丰富经验。但在货币监管、监测统计等方面还存在问题。因此,我国要扩大人民币区域影响力,创新结算业务,构建统一的货币兑换和清算体系以及完善人民币跨境收支监测管理体制等,从而推动人民币国际化发展路线。     

Withstanding financial crises: would trade partners help or hurt?

This article provides new empirical evidence on the losses of real activity caused by various financial shocks. Spillover effects due to foreign trade linkages deserve special attention. To this end, we estimate a modify auto-regressive process and a Seemingly Unrelated Regression Equations estimator is used to account for the dependency of one’s country growth on its trade-weighted partners growth. We run estimations on a set of currency collapses, banking crises and sovereign defaults in 49 advanced and developing countries from 1978 to 2011. The trade-weighted foreign demand effect mitigated the economic downturn following a banking or a sovereign debt crisis in all countries, while only the advanced ones benefited from it after a currency collapse. Trade-based spillover effects make banking crises more costly in the developing countries, in those that liberalize their financial account. It contrasts with what is observed during currency or sovereign debt crises.     

基于信息的双重危机模型及其在东亚危机中的应用

由于近来在新兴市场国家发生的一系列货币危机都同时伴随着银行危机的发生,要全面地理解这些货币危机,我们需要将具有微观基础的银行部门明确地纳入到货币危机的分析模型中去.该文通过应用基于信息的银行挤兑模型,建立了一个双重危机模型,并对诸如经济基本面的脆弱如何导致双重危机,以及银行危机和货币危机如何相互作用等问题,做出了内生化的解释.模型抓住了最近新兴市场货币危机的本质特征,并与最近东亚危机的经验事实非常符合.     

FLOATING WITH A LARGE LIFE JACKET: MONETARY AND EXCHANGE RATE POLICIES IN CROATIA UNDER DOLLARIZATION

Even after more than a decade of low inflation, Croatia remains highly dollarized. Commercial banks avoid currency mismatch by indexing loans to the exchange rate. Although this eliminates direct currency risk, it creates credit risk, because any larger depreciation might induce borrower defaults. Monetary and exchange rate policies focus on exchange rate smoothing to safeguard financial stability. Dollarization has prevented the use of monetary policy to stabilize output. Given Croatia's likely entry into the EU and adoption of the Euro, dedollarization seems unfeasible. Rather than attempting to reverse dollarization, the central bank has taken measures to make the banking system more robust to shocks. (JEL E52, E58, F31, G21, P24 )     

银行业服务外包风险重要性度量的指标体系研究

我国银行业服务外包风险的定量分析指标体系尚未建立。本文根据巴塞尔委员会主导的联合论坛出台的《金融服务外包文件》列举的风险类型进行深入系统研究,将11大类风险细化归类为30项风险事件,构建了银行业服务外包风险的评价指标体系。进一步,本文综合考虑风险的影响程度和发生概率,运用风险矩阵法和模糊综合评价法对各种风险进行定量分析和精确排序,为识别银行业服务外包的关键性风险提供了定量的科学计算方法,为银行业服务外包风险的内部控制和外部监管提供了科学依据。     

Surplus liquidity,central bank losses and the use of reserve requirements in emerging markets

Since the turn of the millennium, stocks of foreign reserves held by central banks in many emerging markets and developing countries have exceeded currency in circulation. To steer money market rates, these central banks have been absorbing liquidity from, rather than providing it to, the banking sector in their regular monetary policy operations. When interest rates in countries with major reserve currencies are low, the yield on foreign reserves is low. A higher interest rate on liquidity‐absorbing operations may expose central banks to losses. Although a central bank is not a profit‐maximizing institution, central bank losses can undermine the independence of the central bank. Using data for a large panel of central banks, this paper provides some evidence that central banks tend to apply low‐remunerated reserve requirements when profitability is at stake.     

The Reform on RMB Exchange Rate System

The Chinese currency, the yuan, which was pegged to the value of US dollar in the past, will now be a managed currency. Its value will be set in relation to a basket of currencies. China is taking the first big step toward a free-floating currency. This analysis explores the impacts on Chinese banking, Chinese companies and international monetary market.     

货币危机与银行危机共生因子实证分析——国别比较的视角

共生危机的事实表明,货币危机与银行危机共生的现象在不同类型的国家均可能出现,而非某一类国家所特有的现象.基于对共生性货币银行危机触发机制国别差异的考察,文章在对1980～2006年间60个国家共生危机发生情况识别的基础上,分别构建了工业化国家和发展中国家共生危机生成的逐步Logistic回归模型.研究表明,工业化国家的共生危机主要是经济中各类矛盾累积的结果,发展中国家则主要源于本国制度缺陷,而采用滞后一期的变量来解释工业化国家共生危机时,效果不显著.     

Transactions,credit, and central banking in a model of segmented markets

A segmented markets model is constructed in which transactions are conducted using credit and currency. Goods market segmentation plays an important role, in addition to the role played by conventional segmentation of asset markets. An important novelty of the paper is to show how the nonneutralities of money and their persistence depend on the nature of goods market transactions and on the arrangements for clearing and settlement of consumer credit. The model permits open market operations, daylight overdrafts, reserve-holding, and overnight lending and borrowing, allowing the consideration of a rich array of central banking arrangements and their implications.     

中国开展银行业务外包的研究

银行业务外包是指银行通过契约将原内部工作交由他人完成,是银行应对日益激烈的市场竞争的重要工具,也是银行主动调整战略、实现核心价值的有效手段.银行业务外包研究在国外比较热门,研究较为深入,而随着中国对WTO承诺的到来,中国银行业面临着与国外实力银行竞争,银行业务外包也越来越引起国内理论界的关注.在对国际国内银行业务外包进行比较分析的基础上,指出了我国目前银行业务外包存在的问题,并提出了改进的建议.     

Learning from Japan: The European Central Bank and the European Sovereign Debt Crisis

What shapes central banks’ learning from the policy experiments of their peers? Both economic ideas and organizational interests play important roles. Thus, New Keynesian ideas led central banks to interpret Japan's experience with quantitative easing (2001–2006) through the impact on risk spreads, although the Japanese central bank never intended such effects. In turn, scholars and policy-makers alike ignored one critical lesson: successful policy innovations depend on banks’ funding models. It is argued here that this was a crucial omission because the shift to market-based funding impairs the effectiveness of the traditional crisis toolkit. Central banks must intervene directly in asset markets of systemic importance for funding conditions, as the Bank of Japan did by buying government bonds. Hence, market-based finance engenders a trade-off between financial stability and institutional stability defined through central bank independence. During critical periods, central banks cannot preserve both. The ECB illustrates this trade-off well. Early in the crisis, it outsourced financial stability to a (largely) market-dependent banking system to protect its independence. With the introduction of Outright Monetary Transactions in September 2012, the Bank recognized that the market-based nature of European banking required outright purchases of sovereign bonds. This new instrument gave the ECB additional powers to shape national fiscal decisions in the name of an independence that no longer has theoretical justifications.