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When is Debt Odious? A Theory of Repression and Growth Traps

Author

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  • Viral V. Acharya
  • Raghuram Rajan
  • Jack Shim
Abstract
How is a developing country affected by its odious government’s ability to borrow in international markets? We examine the dynamics of a country’s growth, consumption, and sovereign debt, assuming that the government is myopic and wants to maximize short-term, socially unproductive, spending. Interestingly, access to external borrowing can extend the government’s effective horizon; the government’s ability to borrow hinges on its convincing investors they will be repaid, which gives it a stake in the future. The lengthening of the government’s effective horizon can incentivize it to tax less, resulting in higher steady-state household consumption than if it could not borrow. However, in a developing country that saves little, the government may engage in more repressive policies to enhance its debt capacity, which only ensures that successor governments repress as well. This leads to a “growth trap” where household steady-state consumption is lower than if the government had no access to debt. We characterize circumstances in which odious government leads to odious debt and those in which it does not, and discuss policies that might ameliorate the welfare of the citizenry.

Suggested Citation

  • Viral V. Acharya & Raghuram Rajan & Jack Shim, 2020. "When is Debt Odious? A Theory of Repression and Growth Traps," NBER Working Papers 27221, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27221
    Note: CF EFG IFM LE PE
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ricardo Reis, 2021. "The constraint on public debt when r," Discussion Papers 2111, Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM).
    2. repec:avg:wpaper:en11707 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Patrick Bolton & Mitu Gulati & Ugo Panizza, 2023. "Sovereign Debt Puzzles," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 15(1), pages 239-263, November.
    4. Taner Turan & Halit Yanıkkaya, 2021. "External debt, growth and investment for developing countries: some evidence for the debt overhang hypothesis," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 20(3), pages 319-341, September.
    5. Alfredo SCHCLAREK & Jiajun XU, 2020. "Exchange rate and balance of payment risks in the global development finance architecture," Working Paper 15b03057-1f7f-44dc-93fa-5, Agence française de développement.
    6. Schclarek, Alfredo & Xu, Jiajun, 2022. "Exchange rate and balance of payment crisis risks in the global development finance architecture," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F3 - International Economics - - International Finance
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H3 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents
    • H6 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt

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