1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910137466403321

Autore

Hohmann Sebastian

Titolo

The political economy of sovereign default : theory and empirics

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Graduate Institute Publications, 2012

[Place of publication not identified], : Graduate Institute Publications, 2012

ISBN

2-940503-08-7

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (90 pages)

Collana

eCahiers de l'Institut ; ; 15

Soggetti

Political Science

Law, Politics & Government

Public Finance

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references.

Sommario/riassunto

What do self-interested governments’ needs to maintain loyal groups of supporters imply for sovereign incentives to repay debt? Many sovereign defaults have occurred at relatively low levels of debt, while some highly indebted nations continue to honour their obligations. This poses a problem for traditional models of sovereign debt, which rely on the threat of economic sanctions to explain why and when a representative agent seeking to maximise social welfare would choose debt-repayment. The political-economy model of sovereign default developed in this ePaper shows that those governments that depend on small groups of loyalists drawn from large populations are more likely to default on sovereign debt than those governments dependent on large groups of supporters. These findings contribute to a growing body of literature on the importance of institutions in sovereign debt and default.