Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Columbia Journal of Transnational Law
Publication Date
1996
ISSN
0010-1931
Page Number
539
Keywords
portfolio investment, developing countries, Latin America
Disciplines
Finance and Financial Management | Law
Abstract
Global financial markets trade about $1 trillion of securities each day. Investors in these markets seek the highest returns by shiffing huge amounts of capital from nation to nation, "playing global monopoly... and deciding which governments deserve to 'Pass Go' and collect $200 billion dollars and which should go directly to jail and be starved of the capital to raise living standards." International competition for capital gives global investors tremendous leverage over developing nations' economic policies.
Investors will shift capital into developing countries that adopt macroeconomic policies to ensure stable, high rates of effective return. However, if returns drop, or are eroded by inflation, investors can withdraw billions of dollars of capital almost overnight, wrecking the local economy. In many instances, even if the developing countries follow domestic policies conducive to foreign investment, capital can still shift suddenly to other markets because of changes in world economic conditions, leaving behind economic chaos.
The largest players in capital markets are called "portfolio investors," major financial players that hold large blocks of yield- sensitive, highly liquid, debt and equity securities, without assuming any managerial responsibilities. Portfolio investors are one of the biggest suppliers of capital to emerging economies, supplying 50% of all net external finance in Latin America between 1989 and 1992.'
Recommended Citation
Randall S. Thomas and Enrique Carrasco,
Encouraging Relational Investment and Controlling Portfolio Investment in Developing Countries in the Aftermath of the Mexican Financial Crisis, 34 Columbia Journal of Transnational Law. 539
(1996)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty-publications/1473