Sangeeta Pratap

Debt composition and balance sheet effects of exchange rate volatility in Mexico: a firm level analysis

We use Mexican firm-level data to study the role of currency mismatches in exacerbating the negative effects of a devaluation in the corporate sector and to investigate what drives Mexican firms to borrow in foreign currency. Our results show that large firms and exporters tend to borrow more heavily in foreign currency. The presence of foreign currency denominated debt poses a significant risk to balance sheets at the time of devaluation. Our findings suggest that in Mexico, the balance sheet effects of a devaluation far outweigh the competitiveness effects.

Financial Market Discipline in Early-Twentieth-Century Mexico

We test for the presence of market discipline in the banking sector in early-twentieth-century Mexico. Using financial data from note-issuing banks between 1900 and 1910, we examine whether bank fundamentals influenced the patterns of withdrawals and of note issue. We show that fundamentals were a strong determinant of bank withdrawals and note issue, indicating that market discipline was an important feature of the banking system in this period. This result crucially depends on correcting for selection bias generated by the exit of several banks in the 1907 crisis.