Corporate Balance Sheets in Emerging Markets

Laura  Alfaro; Gonzalo  Asis; Anusha  Chari; Ugo  Panizza

Article | Vox, CEPR Policy Portal | June 12, 2017

Corporate Balance Sheets in Emerging Markets: A Comparison of the Global Crisis and the Asian Financial Crisis

by Laura Alfaro, Gonzalo Asis, Anusha Chari and Ugo Panizza

Abstract

Leverage levels in emerging market firms rose dramatically in the aftermath of the Global Crisis. This column examines whether concerns of a repeat of the Asian financial crisis, which was largely attributed to corporate financial roots, are justified. While firm financial fragility is more widespread, it is less severe than in the period preceding the Asian Financial Crisis. However, certain large firms with high levels of foreign currency leverage are a potential key source of vulnerability in the transmission of adverse shocks such as exchange rate depreciations.

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Emerging Markets; System Shocks;

Format: Electronic

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Alfaro, Laura, Gonzalo Asis, Anusha Chari, and Ugo Panizza. "Corporate Balance Sheets in Emerging Markets: A Comparison of the Global Crisis and the Asian Financial Crisis." Vox, CEPR Policy Portal (June 12, 2017).

In the decades following 2005, China faced significant financial challenges. Inflation spiraled upwards and China’s economy stagnated in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis. The country’s leaders took an interventionist approach to weather the storm, controlling capital and exchange rates. These actions raised criticism from other nations, and in 2017 the U.S. initiated the U.S.-China Trade Wars, which enforced tariffs and requirements for increased transparency. As implications of the trade wars remained uncertain, many wondered whether the central bank would introduce further discreet steps to change the yuan. Would China’s currency appreciate as substantially against the U.S. dollar as predicted by economists? And when would further change occur? The stakes were high; a freer yuan float would impact groups within and outside of China very differently. Would China’s currency then be allowed to depreciate or appreciate if fundamentals required it?

For decades, Chile was heralded as South America’s pillar of stable economic growth. Chile was the world’s largest producer of copper and enjoyed a long period of over 30 years of world demand for its resources. In 2013, the commodity boom ended and was replaced by a slow period of economic activity. By 2019, a culmination of factors had contributed to widespread protests. Major streets in Santiago were shut down due to demonstrations by workers across 20 ports. Mining unions urged the government to lift the state of emergency and end curfews. It was unclear how these stoppages would affect copper production and prices in a country that produced a third of the world’s supply.

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Corporate Balance Sheets in Emerging Markets: A Comparison of the Global Crisis and the Asian Financial Crisis

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