Rethinking sovereign default

Scholars continue to debate why states repay their debts foreign creditors. The existing literature stresses the short-term economic and political costs that deter default, focusing on reputational damage, creditor reprisals, spillover loss of office. International Relations scholars economists have largely tested these explanations using quantitative methods, framing analyses as a choice between default non-default driven by rational interests or actors within them. three books considered here draw qualitative methods refine sometimes challenge prevailing wisdom, offering valuable insights concerning many types wider-ranging causes sovereign default. These reveal is not binary outcome but instead spectrum ranging from unilateral repudiation through cooperative restructuring. Furthermore, governments for economically irrational reasons, reflecting shifts in domestic-political changes state identity. This new also raises important questions future researchers, especially about when can be beneficial how it affect long-term relations states.