In many small developing countries, the benefits of capital market development are not realized, as banks dominate and stock markets struggle to establish a firm footing in the economy, remaining relatively illiquid and volatile. This paper examines the determinants of stock market volatility in...

Sovereign Debt and Credit Rating Bias rejects the notion that credit rating agencies' rigorous and transparent determination of ratings leaves no room for bias, and debunks the myth that the value CRAs place on their reputational capital precludes prolonged biases. To determine the extent of...

This study develops proxies for each of Levine's (1997) five functions of the financial sector, and models the relationship between these functions and economic growth using methods that more accurately conform to theory, and which broaden our understanding of the mechanisms through which the...

While recent studies of the finance-growth nexus have focused on the use of proxies which more accurately capture the theorized functioning of the financial sector, they have tended to focus either on the functioning of the financial sector as a whole, or on the dominant institutions within the...

In the context of constrained credit markets, the information view of related party transactions (RPTs) is used to argue that such transactions are efficient, as they make the best use of limited information. The looting view of RPTs is, however, used to make the opposing argument -- during...

The perception that banks are exploiting customers through their fee-charging practices in a bid to maximize profits, has fuelled widespread public interest in identifying the banks that profit most heavily from fees. Using hierarchical cross-country regression analyses, this paper seeks to...

Much of the debate surrounding the recent global crisis is focused on respective governments' policy responses to the financial and economic downturn. Much less attention has been placed on the manner in which private sector businesses responded to the crisis. This study analyses the results of...

The global financial crisis has led to the unearthing of numerous Ponzi schemes around the world. This paper examines the factors determining individuals' extent of exposure to Ponzi schemes. The theoretical literature on investor gullibility and risk tolerance was used to develop an economic...

Numerous variables exogenous to the operations of commercial banks have been widely touted in academic literature and popular discourse to be important factors causing the typically high Interest Rate Spreads (IRS) in developing countries. Using data for a group of 33 countries, this article...