Competing in the world economy does not automatically boost a nation's productivity and restructure its economy. Such progress requires mobilizing capital, employment, technology and knowledge. Opportunities beyond the business realm must be fully exploited to the benfit of society as a whole....

Credit supplied by the banking sector is the most important funding source for firms and households in Latin America and the Caribbean. Unfortunately, credit is scarce, costly and volatile. Without deep and stable credit markets, the region will be hard pressed to achieve high and sustainable...

The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have shown interest in recent years in promoting private-sector participation in infrastructure projects. This trend has permitted budget consolidation, improved efficiency, and reduction of state participation in productive activities. The book...

Over the last 20 years, Mexico redefined the role of the state in its economy through an ambitious program to liberalize trade, promote efficiency and reduce the size and scope of the state-owned sector. In Mexico, privatization led to a significant improvement in firm performance, as...

We explore the links between trust and a broad range of financial structure and development measures. Our base sample is a cross section of 48 countries and the analysis covers the period 1980-1994. We use a new World Bank data set that provides the most comprehensive coverage of financial...

The objective of this paper is twofold. On one hand, we undertake an analysis of the recent evolution of capital markets and their effect on the availability of external financing in Mexico in the last two decades. On the other hand, based on a newly assembled firm-level data set on corporate...

The 2004 IDB Infrastructure Conference Series included four major events that took place in Madrid (January 22-23), Washington, D.C. (February 19-20), Lima (March 27, during the Bank's Annual Meeting); and Tokyo (May 13). These events brought together leading specialists and stakeholders...

The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have shown interest in recent years in promoting private-sector participation in infrastructure projects. This trend has permitted budget consolidation, improved efficiency, and reduction of state participation in productive activities. The book...

This paper analyzes recent trends in Latin Americas institutional development regarding to investor protection. In spite of the underdevelopment of the regions financial markets, there is slow movement towards legal reforms intended to protect investors and make regional markets more attractive...

The 2004 IDB Infrastructure Conference Series included four major events that took place in Madrid (January 22-23), Washington, D.C. (February 19-20), Lima (March 27, during the Bank's Annual Meeting); and Tokyo (May 13). These events brought together leading specialists and stakeholders...