DOLLARIZATION OF DEBT CONTRACTS: EVIDENCE FROM CHILEAN FIRMS

This paper uses a new data set to estimate the causes and consequences of foreign currency debt in firms' balance sheets. The evidence from this sample of Chilean firms indicates that dollar-denominated debt increases with firms' size and degree of exposure to foreign competition. We find evidence that dollar-denominated debt combines with exchange rate movements to produce a negative balance-sheet effect that reduces firms' investment in periods of strong exchange rate depreciation. This negative balance-sheet effect is associated with long-term debt and appears to be nonlinear in the amount of real exchange rate depreciation.