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Government Debt and International Portfolio Diversification

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  • Constance E. Smith

Abstract

An explanation for the widely-observed phenomenon of home country asset preference is provided by the existence of government debt. Domestic government debt implies future taxes for domestic residents. Since no market exists for the statutory obligation to pay taxes, the present value of future tax payments needed to finance government debt is viewed as a nontraded asset (or liability). Because there is a positive covariation in the return on the domestic bond with the government debt liability, holding the domestic bond reduces the variation in the return on domestic residents' traded plus nontraded, or total wealth. For this reason, risk-averse domestic assetholders are shown to increase the amount of traded wealth they hold in domestic government bonds as domestic government debt increases.

Suggested Citation

  • Constance E. Smith, 1996. "Government Debt and International Portfolio Diversification," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 29(2), pages 394-413, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:cje:issued:v:29:y:1996:i:2:p:394-413
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    Cited by:

    1. Glabadanidis, Paskalis, 2009. "Measuring the economic significance of mean-variance spanning," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 596-616, May.
    2. Ed Westerhout, 2002. "The Capital Tax and Welfare Effects from Asymmetric Information on Equity Markets," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 9(3), pages 219-233, May.
    3. Jones Odei Mensah & Gamini Premaratne, 2019. "Exploring Diversification Benefits In Asian Equity Markets," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 64(03), pages 517-542, June.

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