Since the first public offering in 1985 asset backed securities (ABS) are one of the most rapidly growing segments of the U.S. capital markets. Finding its genesis in the refinancing of mortgages in the United States, ABS are structured by packaging a pool of financial assets, such as automobile...

In this paper an index of financial competitiveness is calculated that corresponds to themarket-to-book ratio of inward FDI stocks. For a panel of five advanced economies from1980 to 2006 it is shown that price competitiveness, stable inflation rates and registeredpatents have a positive impact...