The Fletcher School

Through our broad network of professionals, research projects, and events, CEME provides an online publications library highlighting program results and other emerging market enterprise initiatives.

• Key International Issues for Sovereign Wealth Funds

  This report, a product of CEME’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Initiative (SWFI), is based on discussions with SWF senior decision makers and country authorities from the Gulf Cooperation Countries, Latin America, Singapore, and several industrial countries. From these discussions, SWFI researchers identified and analyzed key international issues from the SWF point of view.

• The Sovereign Wealth Fund Initiative in the Context of the International Working Group of Sovereign Wealth Funds

  This note describes the role of the CEME’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Initiative (SWFI) in the context of the International Forum and the Santiago Principles from which both take their roots. SWFI provides senior decision-makers with a value-neutral venue and world-class resources to identify key international issues and approaches for better management of external relationships.

• Debating the Future of Savings-Led Microfinance: A Summary Paper of the Microfinance From Below Conference

  Drawing from the arguments made at CEME’s March 2009 conference, Microfinance from Below: The Power of Savings and Savings Groups in Frontier Economies, this summary presents opinions and insights from experts in the field of microfinance and reviews debates concerning the linking of communities to banks and other financial institutions, the continued need to regulate microfinance, and role of technology in savings-led initiatives.

• Microfinance From Below Conference: One Student’s Perspective

  This paper summarizes memorable moments and important lessons of CEME’s March 2009 conference, “Microfinance from Below: The Power of Savings and Savings Groups in Frontier Economies” through the perspective of one student attendee.

• CEME Fellow Research Paper Volume 1.2

  FX-Adjusted Local Currency Spreads (March 2009)
  By Jorge A. Chan-Lau, CEME Fellow

  Changes in domestic and international economic conditions affect partly the trend and volatility of the exchange rate as well as the operating conditions of firms and corporations. Therefore, the common practice of adding up the default risk and currency risk premia could overstate the risk compensation received by investors. Modern approaches to model default risk that incorporate foreign exchange effects while promising may be difficult to implement due to data limitations. This paper addresses the needs of practitioners by presenting a simple rule of thumb, based on the joint dynamics of exchange rate changes and the spreads of credit default swaps, to convert foreign-currency denominated spreads to local currency-denominated spreads adjusting for currency risk. The rule of thumb, while simple, captures the nonlinear dependence between default risk and currency risk, and could be very useful for investors in local currency instruments.

• CEME Fellow Research Paper Volume 1.1

  Assessing the Risk of Compound Debt Schemes: An Asset-Liability Compound Option Approach (March 2009)
  By Jorge A. Chan-Lau, CEME Fellow and André O. Santos

  This paper describes a novel approach to asset-liability management of public debt schemes, the asset-liability compound option approach. This approach integrates standard asset-liability analysis with the option approach to model contingent liabilities. Furthermore, the paper also introduces a new measure for debt repayment capacity that is consistent with the definitions of the government balance sheet and net worth as presented in the 2001 IMF Government Finance Statistics.
  

• The Future of Risk Management in Microfinance: Perspectives from Practitioners in the U.S. Financial Markets”—a monograph by Oliver Wyman and CEME (Summer 2008)
  Oliver Wyman – with the support of CEME – has tracked microfinance along the trajectory of the U.S. mortgage market. Although the microcredit industry operates in an environment with different products and customers, it could evolve to mirror the U.S. mortgage market in many ways. This potential evolution will introduce greater complexity, more dependence on capital markets, a broader range of products and more balance-sheet intricacy. With critical safeguards in place and preservation of its unique risk management paradigms, microfinance need not transform into today’s subprime crisis; rather, its transformations can align with the sector’s original promise.
  
• “Scaling Alternative Energy: The Role of Emerging Markets”—a dialogue synthesis report (April 2008)
  On April 11, 2008, CEME and the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy (CIERP) at The Fletcher School co-hosted a dialogue exploring key issues in sustainable energy, with a focus on the emerging markets. The dialogue brought together leading manufacturers and investors in alternative energy products and technologies, as well as practitioners and policy-makers, to discuss initiatives that enterprises and governments in the emerging markets (e.g. Brazil, China, India, and the Middle East) are taking to address both climate change concerns and the energy needs they believe are necessary to improve living standards.
  
• “Deepening Local Capital Markets in Emerging Market Countries”—a seminar summary report (April 2008)
  A report summarizing a half-day seminar on April 23, 2008 exploring the development of local capital markets in emerging markets, particularly in the Latin American and Asian regions. The event featured CEME Senior Fellows Eliot Kalter and Neil Allen; Fletcher professor Patrick Schena; and practitioner Ignacio Sosa.
  
• “Microfinance Dialogue: The Next Decade”—a dialogue synthesis report (November 2007)
  On November 2, 2007, CEME hosted a timely conference on the future of microfinance, with support from the Feinstein International Center, and the Institute for Human Security at The Fletcher School, Tufts University. Panelists included leaders from the public, private, and NGO sectors, including ACCION International, MicroRate, Compartamos, the Omidyar Network, AIG, and CAF. Critical microfinance topics explored include capital markets access, use of soft money, and key issues facing microfinance industry growth and impact in the next decade.