Does state ownership hinder or help firms access credit? We use data on almost 4 million firms in 89 countries to study the relationship between state ownership and corporate leverage. Controlling for country-sector-year fixed effects and conventional firm-level determinants of leverage, we show...

We use data on 1,294 banks in Central and Eastern Europe to analyze how bank ownership and creditor coordination in the form of the Vienna Initiative affected credit growth during the 2008–09 crisis. As part of the Vienna Initiative western European banks signed country-specific commitment...

We use unique firm-level data on management practices and energy expenditures in about 2,000 manufacturing firms in central and eastern Europe, Central Asia and Middle East and North Africa to examine how the quality of management practices relates to the energy intensity of firms in the...

This paper uses a novel dataset on investments considered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to examine project selection and project design at a multilateral development bank which pursues a combination of financial and environmental, social or governance (ESG) objectives....

During the technological and military competition of the Cold War, the Soviet government created “science cities” – urban centres that hosted a high concentration of research and development facilities. But what has been the long-term effect of these cities? This paper finds that in...

During the technological and military competition of the Cold War, the Soviet government created “science cities” – urban centres that hosted a high concentration of research and development facilities. But what has been the long-term effect of these cities? This paper finds that in...