The paper shows that in a general equilibrium model with two countries, characterized
by different levels of financial development, and two technologies, one more productive and
more financially demanding than the other, the following stylized facts can be replicated:
1) the persistent US current account deficits since the beginning of the 90’s; 2) growth of
output per worker in developing countries in relative terms with the US during the same
period; 3) relative capital accumulation and 4) TFP growth in these countries, also relative
to the US. The more productive technology takes more time to implement and is subject to
liquidity shocks, while the less productive one, along with external bond assets, can be used
as a hoard to finance those liquidity shocks. As a result, after financial globalization, if the
emerging economy is capital scarce and if its financial market is sufficiently incomplete, it
experiences an increase in net foreign assets that coincides with a fall in the less productive
investment and a rise in the more productive one. Convergence towards the steady state
implies then both a better allocation of capital that generates endogenous aggregate TFP
gains and a rise in aggregate investment that translates into higher growth.