International Reserves-Too Much of a Zipf's Thing

Concentrated distribution of international reserves is puzzling. I show that the growth rates of international reserves bear only a very weak relationship to their initial stocks (scaled by GDP or in absolute terms), and that, by implication, the cross-sectional distribution of reserves conforms to Zipf''s law. The law states that the size of reserves is inversely related to their ranking. Evidence in favor of the law is strong and time robust. I compare the crosssection distribution of international reserves embedded in the WEO projections to that implied by Zipf''s law and find that international reserves are much less concentrated in the WEO projections than implied by Zipf''s law.World Economic Outlook;statistics, samples, reserve holdings, reserve accumulation, descriptive statistics, correlation, equations, financial statistics, equation, standard deviation, significance levels, short term debt, reserve management, reserve bank, reserve assets, standard error, independent variable, correlations, balance of payments, central bank, current account balance, sample selections, current account, external debt, probability

International Reserve Trends in the South Caucasus and Central Asia Region

In recent years, the South Caucasus and Central Asia countries (CCA-6) have received significant foreign exchange inflows. While a healthy reserve buffer is desirable to selfinsure against external crises, holding international reserves also involves costs. We analyze the adequacy of CCA-6 reserves using widely recognized rules of thumb, and simulate optimal reserve levels applying the Jeanne (2007) model. Both the adequacy measures and the model-based simulations indicate that, with the exception of Tajikistan, CCA-6 reserves had increased to broadly comfortable levels by 2006. More recently, reserve adequacy has been tested in Kazakhstan, which has been affected by the 2007 global liquidity crunch.Capital flows;Capital inflows;Gross domestic product;reserve holdings, capital markets, international capital markets, risk aversion, international capital, reserve accumulation, access to international capital markets, access to international capital, short-term debt, current account, crisis prevention, capital outflows, balance of payments, currency crises, external debt, commodity prices, external shocks, domestic currency, domestic absorption, external financing, central bank, foreign debt, external borrowing, hoarding, currency crisis, capital mobility, private capital inflows, external liability, floating exchange rate regime, reserve bank, reserve assets, debt burdens, external payments imbalances, domestic savings, export revenues, external obligations, debt management, private capital, reserve management, external short-term debt, public debt, external shock, bilateral donors, private sector debt, global liquidity, currency mismatches, loss of confidence, external payments, bond issuance

Trends in Private Investment in Developing Countries : Statistics for 1970-96

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