Financial Liberalization and Economic Performance in Emerging Countries

Empirical research has shown that there is little relationship between financial liberalization and economic growth in emerging countries. Although international financial integration should, in principle, help countries to reduce macroeconomic instability and enhance economic growth, the evidence suggests that developing countries have not always reaped these potential benefits. This volume discusses the relationship between financial liberalization, financial deepening and economic performance from both a theoretical and a policy perspective, comparing several 'big' emerging countries - Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa - as well as presenting case studies. Its main contribution is to analyze issues that are related to financial liberalization in emerging countries focusing on recent experiences, with particular attention to the policy dimension of financial liberalization: the degree of autonomy of domestic economic policy, and the different policy responses by countries to deal with issues caused by international financial integration. This volume includes contributions from a wide range of experts on finance liberalization and the economics of developing countries, and will be of great interest to scholars and policymakers in these crucial areas.