"Loayza and Rancire study the apparent contradiction between two strands of the literature on the effects of financial intermediation on economic activity. On the one hand, the empirical growth literature finds a positive effect of financial depth as measured by, for instance, private domestic...

"For a foreign "issuer," the benefits of cross-listing in the United States are extensively documented in the literature. However it is not clear what motivates "investors" to hold American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) rather than the underlying stock of these issuers. The authors address the...

"This paper examines the implications of bank activity and short-term funding strategies for bank risk and returns using an international sample of 1,334 banks in 101 countries leading up to the 2007 financial crisis. Expansion into non-interest income generating activities such as trading...

"Studies use different conceptual and operational definitions of crises. The different crisis identifications can lead to inconsistent conclusions and policy formulation even if the same analytical framework is applied. Also, most studies focus on only a few types of crises. This narrow focus on...

The global economic crisis seriously threatens the economic growth and poverty reduction that Armenia achieved in recent years. The most recent data indicate that the economy is now shrinking, with prospects worsening in 2009 and 2010 when the full impact of the crisis is expected to unfold....

There are visible signs that the global financial crisis is affecting economic growth and poverty reduction in Bulgaria. After a period of strong economic growth through 2008, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2009 is projected to shrink by 3.5 percent due to the crisis, with important...

Investment commitments to infrastructure projects with private participation (Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) projects) reaching closure in developing countries grew by 22 percent in the third quarter of 2009, and by 10 percent in the first three quarters of the year, compared with...

This note provides an update on the WBG's COVID-19 Crisis Response, outlined in June 2020 to help developing countries address the impacts of the pandemic while maintaining a line of sight to long-term development goals. It comprises five short sections: (I) the impacts of COVID-19 and...

"It is so widely recognized that innovation is a key driver of economic growth that it is cliche to say so. This article studies product innovation by firms with data from 68 countries, covering more than 25,000 firms in eight manufacturing sectors. The author assesses the predictions of...