This paper presents a framework for understanding the interactions between political and legal institutions, property rights protection, and their implications for financial development. Whereas the literature has answered questions on why some countries lag behind in terms of financial and...

This study analyzes how prevailing institutional arrangements i.e., property rights, contracting rights, political institutions, and corporate governance practices affect privatized firms’ performance, capital markets development, and economic growth. Most of the studies surveyed show that...

We investigate the effect of the power of creditors, property rights protection, and institutional quality, on bank profits using a panel of 498 banks from 46 countries. Results show that better institutions and stronger property rights protection reduce bank profits, while stronger power of...

We investigate how Export Promotion Agencies (EPAs) affect manufacturing outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Synthetic control methods technique results in employing the cases of South Africa and Mauritius to illustrate the effect. Results indicate an EPA's adoption drives up manufacturing...

Licenses received, licenses given, and cross licenses are strategic responses by firms seeking to exchange proprietary information. This paper provides estimates of the capitalized value of gains associated with both domestic and international licensing agreements between non-affiliated firms,...

We explore how bond investors view corporate cash distributions through dividends and how that view influences corporate cost of debt. Explaining between 45 and 67 percent of variance in credit spreads at the time of issuance, our model reveals a non-linear association between dividend payouts...