
48 UNU-WIDER articles, publications, projects, experts...
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Working Paper
Financial Markets and GovernmentsA survey of the changing relationship between the market for political services and the market for financial services.
Working Paper
Loan Processing Costs and Information Asymmetries-Implications for Financial Sector Development and Economic GrowthThe paper presents a model in which credit-constrained firms might delay the adoption of new and more productive technologies because of the very high external financing costs they face. Our point of departure is that the efficiency of the banking...
Working Paper
The New Basel Capital Accord and Developing CountriesThis paper argues that, if implemented in its current form, the new Basel Capital Accord will adversely effect developing sovereigns, corporates and banks wishing to borrow in international markets. This impact will result from the major banks’...
Working Paper
Efficiency of Commercial Banks in Sub-Saharan AfricaUtilizing the stochastic frontier approach, this study conducts a comparative analysis of profit efficiency and cost inefficiency of commercial banks operating in 29 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries by bank ownership (domestic bank, SSA foreign...
Working Paper
Bank Lending to Emerging MarketsThis paper has two aims. The first is to provide some explanation for the extraordinary collapse in cross-border bank lending to developing countries which has taken place since 1997. The second is to argue that it might be too simplistic to...
Working Paper
The Structure and Performance of Ethiopia's Financial Sector in the Pre- and Post-Reform Period with a Special Focus on BankingSince 1992 Ethiopia has been engaged in liberalizing its financial sector. The hallmark of the strategy is gradualism. The approach is not without problems especially from Bretton Woods Institutions that saw the reform as a sluggish process. This...
Blog
Domestic Resource Mobilization and Financial Development: Looking at the MDGs from a Different Angle?
George Mavrotas While recent years have witnessed new interest in the finance–growth nexus, the relationship between domestic resource mobilization...
Working Paper
Savings By and For the PoorThe poor can and do save, but often use formal or informal instruments that have high risk, high cost, and limited functionality. This could lead to undersaving compared to a world without market or behavioural frictions. Undersaving can have...
Journal Article
Financial Liberalization and Banking Sector Efficiency in IndiaThe Indian financial sector has undergone a significant structural transformation since the initiation of financial liberalization during 1990’s. It brought significant changes in the financial sector in general and banking in particular. While there...
Working Paper
Prudential Regulation of Banks in Less Developed EconomiesBeginning with an empirical analysis of banking crises using a logit econometric model covering a sample of developed and developing countries between 1980-97, the paper suggests that crises are more likely in years of low growth and high real...
Working Paper
The Change of the Financial System and Developmental State in KoreaThis study examines the role of institutions and their change related to the rapid economic development and the 1997 Korean financial crisis. In Korea, the government built a state- led financial system through the 1960s and 1970s and a specific...
Blog
Making Finance the Servant not the Master
Tony Addison Today, there is much frustration with the financial sector. Society’s precious savings are not being put to the best of uses—investing...
Working Paper
A look offshore: unpacking the routes of misinvoicing in international tradeWe study whether misinvoicing in international trade is reflected in cross-border bank accounts as reported by offshore financial centres. We show that residents hold more offshore wealth when local misinvoicing practices thrive, especially for under...
Working Paper
The financial inclusion agendaUsing a unique district-level panel dataset, we investigate the effect of banking system penetration on financial inclusion in Ghana. To purge potential endogeneity bias in the underlying relationship, we exploit a change in the policy environment of...