Financial Globalization, International Business Cycles and Consumption Risk Sharing
34 Pages Posted: 28 Dec 2004
There are 2 versions of this paper
Financial Globalization, International Business Cycles, and Consumption Risk Sharing
Date Written: October 2004
Abstract
Consumption based measures of international risk sharing seem to defy the effects of more than two decades of ongoing financial globalization. We put forward an explanation of this puzzle: under incomplete risk sharing and if there are several sources of risk, consumption based measures of risk sharing will also be a function of the structure of business cycles, i.e., their degree of synchronization and persistence. We argue that permanent and transitory shocks to output constitute such qualitatively different sources of risk. Using OECD data, we then illustrate that countries have indeed become more insured against permanent shocks, in line with the ever better integration of financial markets. Basic measures of risk sharing have however not picked up this change because globalization has also affected the structure of business cycles. In particular, our results are consistent with the observation recently made by several authors that the globalization period has seen the emergence of less volatile and internationally more synchronized business cycles among industrialized countries.
Keywords: Consumption risk sharing, capital flows, home bias, international and regional business cycles
JEL Classification: C23, E21, F36
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
Shocking Aspects of European Monetary Unification
By Tamim Bayoumi and Barry Eichengreen
-
International Business Cycles: World, Region, and Country-Specific Factors
By M. Ayhan Kose, Chris Otrok, ...
-
Understanding Changes in International Business Cycle Dynamics
By James H. Stock and Mark W. Watson
-
Trade, Finance, Specialization and Synchronization
By Jean M. Imbs
-
Trade, Finance, Specialization and Synchronization
By Jean M. Imbs
-
Trade, Finance, Specialization, and Synchronization
By Jean M. Imbs
-
Risk Sharing and Industrial Specialization: Regional and International Evidence
By Bent E. Sørensen, Sebnem Kalemli-ozcan, ...
-
Sectoral and National Aggregate Disturbances to Industrial Output in Seven European Countries