Recent Developments in Quantitative Models of Sovereign Default

Abstract

The current crisis and discussions, in the euro area in particular, show that sovereign debt crises/defaults are no longer confined to developing economies. Following crises in many Latin American countries, the literature on quantitative dynamic macro models of sovereign default has been advancing rapidly. Current debate should take note of the findings of this literature – an extensive overview of which has been provided in this paper. This paper also discusses the inherent difficulties as well as possibilities of integrating this type of model into standard business cycle models (RBC and DSGE models). This is likely to be particularly helpful when using models to analyse upcoming issues in the euro area, such as a suitable sovereign insolvency law or the assumption of joint liability.