Is the relationship between financial globalization and financial stability heterogeneous? Evidence from emerging markets and developing economies

Abstract

This paper examines the association between financial stability and financial globalization for 59 emerging markets and developing countries (EMDEs) from 2000 to 2019. Our findings from the baseline model reveal that the relationship between financial stability and financial globalization varies, depending on dimensions of financial globalization (overall, de facto, de jure) and financial stability. The relationship shows nonlinear and heterogeneous patterns across quantiles of financial stability, characterized by well-defined extreme points within the data range. Specifically, by employing panel quantile regression technique, we find that financially unstable countries (lower quantiles of financial stability) exhibit a U-shaped relationship between dimensions of financial globalization and financial stability. In comparison, an inverted U-shaped relationship appears for financially stable countries. Further, we find that countries with weak institutional and financial development exhibit U-shaped relations, experiencing initial instability followed by stability. Conversely, financial stability initially improves for countries with strong institutional and financial development but declines as integration deepens. These findings underscore the importance of strengthening institutions to harness the benefits of financial globalization while mitigating associated risks.