Asian emerging-market currencies in the international debt market (1994-2014)

This paper investigates the increasing presence of Asian emerging-market currencies in the international debt market over the last two decades. I use the “original sin” index developed by Eichengreen et al. (The pain of original sin. 〈http://elsa.berkeley.edu/~;;eichengr/research/ospainaug21-03.pdf〉 (August, 2003) to measure the use of an economy's home currency in international debt relative to the total international debt of its residents. The relative reliance on home currency debt is seen to have increased markedly in a number of economies. Using a random effects Tobit model, I examine factors underlying recent changes for a sample of nine Asian emerging market economies. The results suggest the importance of economic size, strength of institutions, and financial market development.