IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jrisks/v9y2021i4p75-d536204.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Examination of Interest-Growth Differentials and the Risk of Sovereign Insolvency

Author

Listed:
  • Jussi Lindgren

    (Department of Mathematics and Systems Analysis, Aalto University, 02150 Espoo, Finland)

Abstract

The objective of this research was to demonstrate the (nonlinear) risks of sovereign insolvency and explore the applicability of stochastic modeling in public debt management, given a structural economic model of stochastic government debt dynamics. A stochastic optimal control model was developed to model public debt dynamics based on the debt accounting identity, where the interest-growth differential obeys a continuous random process. This stochasticity represents both the interest rate risk of public debt and the variability of the growth rate of the nominal Gross Domestic Product combined. The optimal fiscal policy was analyzed in terms of the model parameters. The model was simulated, and results were visualized. The insolvency risk was demonstrated by examining the variance of the optimal process. The model was amended with hidden credit risk premia and fiscal multipliers, which forces the debt dynamics to be nonlinear in the debt ratio. The results, on the other hand, confirm that the volatility of the interest-growth differential is crucial in terms of sovereign solvency and in addition, it demonstrates the large risks stemming from the multiplier effect, which underlines the need for prudent debt management and fiscal policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Jussi Lindgren, 2021. "Examination of Interest-Growth Differentials and the Risk of Sovereign Insolvency," Risks, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-14, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jrisks:v:9:y:2021:i:4:p:75-:d:536204
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9091/9/4/75/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9091/9/4/75/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alessandro Piergallini, 2019. "Nonlinear policy behavior, multiple equilibria and debt-deflation attractors," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 563-580, April.
    2. Barro, Robert J, 1974. "Are Government Bonds Net Wealth?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(6), pages 1095-1117, Nov.-Dec..
    3. Weicheng Lian & Mr. Andrea F Presbitero & Ursula Wiriadinata, 2020. "Public Debt and r - g at Risk," IMF Working Papers 2020/137, International Monetary Fund.
    4. Olivier Blanchard, 2019. "Public Debt and Low Interest Rates," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(4), pages 1197-1229, April.
    5. Roberto Tamborini, 2014. "Interest-Rate Spread and Public-Debt Dynamics in a Two-Country Monetary-Union Portfolio Model," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 243-261, April.
    6. Andrew B. Abel & N. Gregory Mankiw & Lawrence H. Summers & Richard J. Zeckhauser, 1989. "Assessing Dynamic Efficiency: Theory and Evidence," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 56(1), pages 1-19.
    7. Carmen M. Reinhart & Kenneth S. Rogoff, 2010. "Growth in a Time of Debt," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(2), pages 573-578, May.
    8. Abel Cadenillas & Ricardo Huamán-Aguilar, 2016. "Explicit formula for the optimal government debt ceiling," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 247(2), pages 415-449, December.
    9. Thomas J. Sargent & Neil Wallace, 1984. "Some Unpleasant Monetarist Arithmetic," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Brian Griffiths & Geoffrey E. Wood (ed.), Monetarism in the United Kingdom, pages 15-41, Palgrave Macmillan.
    10. Kenneth Rogoff & Anne Sibert, 1988. "Elections and Macroeconomic Policy Cycles," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 55(1), pages 1-16.
    11. Mr. Evan C Tanner, 2013. "Fiscal Sustainability: A 21st Century Guide for the Perplexed," IMF Working Papers 2013/089, International Monetary Fund.
    12. Julio Escolano & Anna Shabunina & Jaejoon Woo, 2017. "The Puzzle of Persistently Negative Interest‐Rate–Growth Differentials: Financial Repression or Income Catch‐Up?," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 38, pages 179-217, June.
    13. Alesina, Alberto & Favero, Carlo & Giavazzi, Francesco, 2015. "The output effect of fiscal consolidation plans," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(S1), pages 19-42.
    14. Warmedinger, Thomas & Checherita-Westphal, Cristina & Drudi, Francesco & Setzer, Ralph & De Stefani, Roberta & Bouabdallah, Othman & Westphal, Andreas, 2017. "Debt sustainability analysis for euro area sovereigns: a methodological framework," Occasional Paper Series 185, European Central Bank.
    15. Alan J. Auerbach & Yuriy Gorodnichenko, 2012. "Fiscal Multipliers in Recession and Expansion," NBER Chapters, in: Fiscal Policy after the Financial Crisis, pages 63-98, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Lee C. Buchheit & G. Mitu Gulati, 2018. "Sovereign Debt Restructuring in Europe," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 9(S1), pages 65-69, June.
    17. van Wijnbergen, Sweder & Olijslagers, Stan & de Vette, Nander, 2020. "Debt sustainability when r - g," CEPR Discussion Papers 15478, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Alan J. Auerbach & Yuriy Gorodnichenko, 2013. "Corrigendum: Measuring the Output Responses to Fiscal Policy," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 5(3), pages 320-322, August.
    19. Olivier J Blanchard, 2019. "Public Debt: Fiscal and Welfare Costs in a Time of Low Interest Rates," Policy Briefs PB19-2, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    20. Alesina, A. & Passalacqua, A., 2016. "The Political Economy of Government Debt," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 2599-2651, Elsevier.
    21. Barro, Robert J, 1979. "On the Determination of the Public Debt," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(5), pages 940-971, October.
    22. Alan J. Auerbach & Yuriy Gorodnichenko, 2017. "Fiscal Stimulus and Fiscal Sustainability," NBER Working Papers 23789, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Raymond Hawkins & Jeffrey Speakes & Dan Hamilton, 2015. "Monetary policy and PID control," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 10(1), pages 183-197, April.
    24. Aizenman, Joshua & Pasricha, Gurnain Kaur, 2010. "Fiscal fragility: what the past may say about the future," Santa Cruz Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt7mf244m2, Department of Economics, UC Santa Cruz.
    25. Levitt, Steven D & Snyder, James M, Jr, 1997. "The Impact of Federal Spending on House Election Outcomes," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(1), pages 30-53, February.
    26. Adi Brender & Allan Drazen, 2008. "How Do Budget Deficits and Economic Growth Affect Reelection Prospects? Evidence from a Large Panel of Countries," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(5), pages 2203-2220, December.
    27. Auerbach, Alan J & Gorodnichenko, Yuriy, 2013. "Measuring the Output Responses to Fiscal Policy (vol 4, pg 1, 2012)," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt73c8q5wx, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    28. Alessandro Dovis & Mikhail Golosov & Ali Shourideh, 2016. "Political Economy of Sovereign Debt: A Theory of Cycles of Populism and Austerity," NBER Working Papers 21948, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    29. Rogoff, Kenneth, 2020. "Falling real interest rates, rising debt: A free lunch?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 778-790.
    30. Mr. Julio Escolano, 2010. "A Practical Guide to Public Debt Dynamics, Fiscal Sustainability, and Cyclical Adjustment of Budgetary Aggregates," IMF Technical Notes and Manuals 2010/002, International Monetary Fund.
    31. Abel Cadenillas & Ricardo Huamán-Aguilar, 2018. "On the Failure to Reach the Optimal Government Debt Ceiling," Risks, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-28, December.
    32. Sarno, Lucio, 2001. "The behavior of US public debt: a nonlinear perspective," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 119-125, December.
    33. Lucas, Robert Jr. & Stokey, Nancy L., 1983. "Optimal fiscal and monetary policy in an economy without capital," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 55-93.
    34. Ihori, Toshihiro, 1988. "Optimal deficits in a growing economy," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 526-542, December.
    35. S. Rao Aiyagari & Albert Marcet & Thomas J. Sargent & Juha Seppala, 2002. "Optimal Taxation without State-Contingent Debt," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(6), pages 1220-1254, December.
    36. Checherita-Westphal, Cristina & Domingues Semeano, João, 2020. "Interest rate-growth differentials on government debt: an empirical investigation for the euro area," Working Paper Series 2486, European Central Bank.
    37. Julio Escolano, 2010. "A Practical Guide to Public Debt Dynamics, Fiscal Sustainability, and Cyclical Adjustment of Budgetary Aggregates," IMF Technical Notes and Manuals 10/02, International Monetary Fund.
    38. Sweder van Wijnbergen & Stan Olijslagers & Nander de Vette, 2020. "Debt sustainability when r - g smaller than 0: no free lunch after all," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 20-079/VI, Tinbergen Institute.
    39. Ricardo Huamán-Aguilar & Abel Cadenillas, 2015. "Government Debt Control: Optimal Currency Portfolio and Payments," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 63(5), pages 1044-1057, October.
    40. J. Bradford DeLong & Lawrence H. Summers, 2012. "Fiscal Policy in a Depressed Economy," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 43(1 (Spring), pages 233-297.
    41. Otaviano Canuto & Brian Pinto & Mona Prasad, 2014. "Orderly Sovereign Debt Restructuring: Missing in Action! (And Likely To Remain So)," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 29(1), pages 109-135.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Barbara Annicchiarico & Fabio Di Dio & Stefano Patrì, 2023. "Optimal correction of the public debt and measures of fiscal soundness," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(1), pages 138-162, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Panizza, Ugo & Fatás, Antonio & Ghosh, Atish R. & ,, 2019. "The Motives to Borrow," CEPR Discussion Papers 13735, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Debrun, Xavier & Masuch, Klaus & Ferrero, Guiseppe & Vansteenkiste, Isabel & Ferdinandusse, Marien & von Thadden, Leopold & Hauptmeier, Sebastian & Alloza, Mario & Derouen, Chloé & Bańkowski, Krzyszto, 2021. "Monetary-fiscal policy interactions in the euro area," Occasional Paper Series 273, European Central Bank.
    3. Alesina, A. & Passalacqua, A., 2016. "The Political Economy of Government Debt," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 2599-2651, Elsevier.
    4. Barbara Annicchiarico & Fabio Di Dio & Stefano Patrì, 2023. "Optimal correction of the public debt and measures of fiscal soundness," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(1), pages 138-162, February.
    5. Vítor Constâncio, 0. "The Return of Fiscal Policy and the Euro Area Fiscal Rule," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 0, pages 1-15.
    6. Vítor Constâncio, 2020. "The Return of Fiscal Policy and the Euro Area Fiscal Rule," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 62(3), pages 358-372, September.
    7. György Molnár & Gábor Dániel Soós & Balázs Világi, 2017. "Fiscal Policy and the Business Cycle," Financial and Economic Review, Magyar Nemzeti Bank (Central Bank of Hungary), vol. 16(4), pages 58-85.
    8. Jan Priewe, 2020. "Why 60 and 3 percent? European debt and deficit rules - critique and alternatives," IMK Studies 66-2020, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    9. Jean-Marc Fournier, 2019. "A Buffer-Stock Model for the Government: Balancing Stability and Sustainability," IMF Working Papers 2019/159, International Monetary Fund.
    10. Vítor Constâncio, 2020. "The return of fiscal policy and the euro area fiscal rule," Working Papers REM 2020/0127, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    11. Paolo Mauro & Jing Zhou, 2021. "$$r-g," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 69(1), pages 197-229, March.
    12. Campbell Leith & Eric Leeper, 2016. "Understanding Inflation as a Joint Monetary-Fiscal Phenomenon," Working Papers 2016_01, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    13. Kose, M. Ayhan & Kurlat, Sergio & Ohnsorge, Franziska & Sugawara, Naotaka, 2022. "A cross-country database of fiscal space," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    14. Mehrotra, Neil R. & Sergeyev, Dmitriy, 2021. "Debt sustainability in a low interest rate world," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(S), pages 1-18.
    15. Marie‐Helene Gagnon & Celine Gimet, 2020. "Unconventional economic policies and sentiment: An international assessment," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(6), pages 1544-1591, June.
    16. Etro, Federico, 2017. "Research in economics and macroeconomics," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 373-383.
    17. Wei-han Liu, 2023. "Attaining stochastic optimal control over debt ratios in U.S. markets," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 967-993, October.
    18. M. Brachetta & C. Ceci, 2022. "A stochastic control approach to public debt management," Mathematics and Financial Economics, Springer, volume 16, number 5, June.
    19. Jocelyne Zoumenou, 2023. "On the impact of fiscal policy on inflation: The case of fiscal rules," EconomiX Working Papers 2023-21, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    20. Heimberger, Philipp, 2023. "Public debt and r-g risks in advanced economies: Eurozone versus stand-alone," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jrisks:v:9:y:2021:i:4:p:75-:d:536204. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.