Developing Country Capital Structures And Emerging Stock Markets

Are debt and equity finance complements or substitutes? Probably complements, which means that the existence of active stock markets should increase the volume of business for financial intermediaries.

Variables that predict capital structure in the United States also predict choices of capital structure in a sample of ten developing countries. In several countries, total indebtedness is negatively related to net fixed assets, suggesting that markets for long- term debt do not function effectively.

With foreign capital funds dwindling, governments in many developing countries-- with increased Bank support-- are looking to develop capital markets to provide risk capital for the corporate sector. But first, some basic issues must be empirically explored.

The relationship between the development of stock markets and the functioning of financial intermediaries may be complementary.

In Korea, Thailand, Mexico, Chile and a host of other nations, stock markets previously shunned as illiquid, or simply too exotic, are evolving at a terrific rate, and drawing in ever more participants. Consider these facts:. The emerging markets' share of world market capitalization will grow from approximately 7 percent to 15-20 percent - a pace more than twice that of the industrialized nations.

Emerging market stock issuance relative to GDP rose in the late twentieth century to levels that roughly matched that of advanced, industrial markets. Nonetheless, the connection between owning shares of emerging market stock and the ability to influence the management of these firms remains fundamentally different from the analogous institutional connection that has evolved in industrial markets. The reasons for the differences in emerging markets are both historical and political in nature. That is, local equity markets have had the objective of providing for some degree of local ownership and control of large economic entities since the late nineteenth century. However, local markets have operated under different global political structures since that time, ranging from imperialism, to world wars, to sovereign developmental states, to neo-liberal states. Shares issued under these different structures have been reconfigured over time, resulting in a lack of convergence along either the Anglo-American or Continental models of corporate governance. The author uses a political science paradigm to explain the growth of emerging equity markets. She departs from conventional economic explanations and examines politics at the micro-level of large issues of emerging market stock. The second half of the book presents case studies dealing with emerging market countries in Latin America, Asia, Russia and Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The case studies connect the regional, state, and firm levels to detail the multiple ownership and control arrangements, and to dispel the notion that mere quantitative growth of these markets will lead to a convergence in financial institutional structures along the lines of the industrial core of the world economy.

The Future of Domestic Capital Markets in Developing Countries addresses the challenges that countries face as they develop and strengthen capital markets. Based on input from the world's most prominent capital market experts and leading policymakers in developing countries, this volume represents the latest thinking in capital market development. It captures the views of a global gathering of experts, with perspectives from developing and developed countries, from all regions of the world, from the public and private sector. This volume should be of interest to senior financial sector policymakers from developed and developing countries in securities and exchange commissions, regulators, central banks, ministries of finance, and monetary authorities; private sector executives in stock exchanges, bond markets, venture capital markets, and investment funds; and researchers and academicians with an interest in capital market development in emerging markets. What are the key factors threatening the development and survival of stock exchanges in developing countries? What domestic strategies are needed to protect the future of local markets? Should exchanges consider linkages or alliances? Merging with, or buying up, other exchanges? Demutualization? The volume provides practical guidance on strategies such as nurturing issuers, improving rules and institutions, addressing regulatory challenges, and sequencing reforms. The contributors address a variety of country experiences, and suggest steps that policymakers and practitioners in emerging markets can take to promote an orderly transition toward efficient, well-regulated, and accessible capital markets. Contributors include Reena Aggarwal (Georgetown University), Alexander S. Berg (World Bank), Alan Cameron (Sydney Futures Exchange), Olivier Fremond (PSACG), Amar Gill (Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia), Gerd Hausler (IMF), Jack Glen (International Finance Corporation), Peter Blair Henry (Stanf

Since the mid-1980s, there has been a very substantial increase in stock market activity in many developing countries. This paper first examines the main characteristics of the emerging stock markets, and illustrates the evolution of equity prices in these markets over the last decade. It then discusses the reasons for the markets’ growth and assesses the extent to which domestic policies, as well as external factors, have played a role. This is followed by a discussion of the likely benefits of these markets; the effects which any abrupt correction in stock prices could have for the economy; and the ways in which these markets can be made more efficient.