Leveraging Cultural Diversity in Emerging Markets

Chapter 4

Clash of Civilizationsor Cultural Synergies?

Overview

After years of robust global economic growth, the implosion in advanced economy financial centers quickly began to negatively affect emerging and frontier markets. Financial markets froze in the aftermath of the Lehman bankruptcy in September 2008 and the emerging markets faced an externally driven collapse in trade, and pronounced financial volatility, magnified by deleveraging by banks worldwide, further aggravated the situation. As a result, growth of the global economy fell 6 percent from its precrisis peak to its trough in 2009, the largest straight fall in global growth in the postwar era.

The global crisis had a pronounced but diverse impact on emerging markets. Overall, ...