Sovereign debt architecture is getting more complex, and new insights are needed to understand its transformations. There have been signs of progress: in 2023, the “Common Framework”, the debt restructuring mechanism established by the G20 in November 2020, has delivered its first landmark deals. Official loans are increasingly integrating terms that provide for climate disaster contingencies. On the other hand, rising interest rate risks are materializing just as redemptions are poised to spike in 2024 and 2025. So-called “frontier markets” are facing difficulties rolling over capital market debt, and turning to more opaque and expensive sources of funding on less favorable terms. This might reduce their growth prospects and prevent investment in infrastructure, health, education, climate change. It could also generate increasing political conflicts. These problems, as well as many others, require new ideas, cutting edge research and dialogue between academics and policymakers.

Like the first six editions, DebtCon7 will include high-level roundtables and keynotes with cutting-edge research presented in parallel sessions. This tradition has shown that valuable insights emerge from joining academic and policy debates about sovereign debt across disciplines, including economists, finance and legal scholars, historians, political scientists, political economists, sociologists and anthropologists. These discussions benefit from and help inform the thinking of practitioners from a similarly broad range of geographic and institutional backgrounds, including official sector, financial market, and civil society representatives.

Maintaining this spirit, we invite scholars and practitioners to submit paper proposals in theoretical and empirical areas related to sovereign debt. We call for submissions from all backgrounds – academic, policy, and market institutions, including especially perspectives from practitioners and scholars in the Global South. We encourage contributions from emerging scholars and junior policymakers.

The range of acceptable topics is wide: all aspects of sovereign debt and related topics, in the past, present or future, are within the scope of the conference, included but not limited to:

• Domestic and international politics and economics of sovereign debt restructuring, and the role of international cooperation and institutions.

• Rethinking debt sustainability in the face of evolving challenges, linked to climate, conflicts and the role of both international institutions and credit rating agencies in these assessments

• The role of domestic markets in financing governments and their risks, the evolution of domestic debt restructuring

• The role of courts and legislation in the US and the UK and its consequences for debt in developing countries

• The impact of debt burdens and debt forgiveness on human rights, civil society and political conflicts.

This is a long but non-exhaustive list. If you’re curious whether your debt-related research fits the remit of DebtCon7, it probably does; but feel free to ask the organizers prior to the submission deadline.

How to submit a paper:

To submit a contribution, please submit a full paper by December 15th, 2023, using the submission form. Full papers are preferred and will be more likely to be accepted, but well-advanced drafts will be considered if authors commit to provide the full paper by the end of April. Proposals that do not have complete papers may be considered for policy roundtables instead of academic paper panels.

The DebtCon7 Organizing Committee will evaluate all proposals and communicate to each submitting author by January 20, 2024.

DebtCon typically does not reimburse speaker travel expenses. In some cases, limited funding might be available, especially for scholars and practitioners based in developing countries, on needs-based criteria.

How to receive updates:

We will provide all logistical details in the coming months. You can check this page regularly, or subscribe to our emailing list: you can register here.

For any questions, please reach out to: debtcon7@findevlab.org

DebtCon7 Hosts:

• Martin Kessler (Finance for Development Lab)

• Anna Gelpern (Georgetown Law IIEL and Sovereign Debt Forum)

• Layna Mosley (Princeton University)

• Ugo Panizza (Geneva Graduate Institute)

We look forward to seeing you in Paris in May 2024!