Emerging Securities Markets

IFC Discusssion Paper No. 24. Investors' interest in emerging markets has grown significantly in recent years because of potential high returns and the benefits of diversification. Despite this increased activity, there remains little information o

The trend toward the liberalization of financial markets is part of a general recognition that free markets normally work better than government controls. Regulatory systems should be developed in light of the market failures that make them necessary and should provide the least possible opportunity for rent extraction by any single interest group.

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.

In response to the volatility of capital flows since the mid-1990s, many emerging market economies have taken a variety of steps designed to “selfinsure” against volatile capital flows. One such measure has been the development of local securities and derivatives markets as an alternative source of funding the public and corporate sectors. This paper examines this self-insurance policy, focusing on the extent to which emerging markets have developed local securities and derivatives, and what key policy issues have arisen as a result.

This collection of papers considers many of the important issues raised by these dramatic changes in emerging financial markets, including: the nature of this systemic risk and how governments can go about reducing it: how to increase the supply of capital that can be invested in development; aspects of foreign direct investment; informal credit markets; the impact of informal finance on development; how lessons learned from microfinance in developing countries can be applied to credit markets in the United States; and how to create institutions that can effectively deal with the problems inherent in lending to poor people in developing countries. The book is intended for policy makers and scholars interested in capital markets in developing and transition economies. It is also suitable for use as a supplementary text in upper level undergraduate courses on development finance.

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.