Real Effects of Sovereign Debt Inflow Shocks

Abstract

This paper analyzes the real effects on firms of sovereign debt inflow shocks in emerging countries. We follow Broner et al. (2019) and exploit six episodes of country inclusions into two major local currency sovereign debt indexes. We complement their evidence by analyzing real variables and find that government-related and financial firms experience larger growth in income, employment, and dividends, relative to tradable firms, in the three years following sovereign debt inflow shocks. Our findings suggest that capital inflows to sovereign debt markets can hamper exports and benefit financial and service-based firms, thus reshaping the domestic economy.