DP3729 Coordination Failure, Moral Hazard and Sovereign Bankruptcy Procedures

Author(s): Sayantan Ghosal , Marcus Miller

Publication Date: February 2003

Keyword(s): international financial architecture , sovereign debt restructuring , creditor coordination , moral hazard

JEL(s): F02 , F30 , F33 , F34

Programme Areas: International Macroeconomics

Link to this Page: www.cepr.org/pubs/dps/DP3729.asp

We study a model of sovereign debt crisis that combines problems of creditor co-ordination and debtor moral hazard. Solving the sovereign debtor’s incentives leads to excessive ‘rollover failure’ by creditors when sovereign default occurs. We discuss how the incidence of crises might be reduced by international sovereign bankruptcy procedures, involving ‘contractibility’ of sovereign debtor’s payoffs, suspension of convertibility in a ‘discovery’ phase and penalties in case of malfeasance. In relation to the current debate, this is more akin to the IMF’s Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism than the Collective Action Clauses which some promote as an alternative.