A Model of External Debt Sustainability and Monetary Hierarchy

ABSTRACT I develop a dynamic macroeconomic model of a small open economy to identify two key vulnerabilities that prevent emerging markets from fully integrating into global markets: high financial integration costs and their low position in the international monetary hierarchy. These vulnerabilities make them susceptible to financial traps, jeopardize debt sustainability and increase volatility. I show that the weak response of capital flows to interest rates further limits the ability of monetary policy to stabilize the system. As a result, these economies have restricted policy options and often resort to mimicking external monetary policy strategies in times of financial distress.