The Central European countries became members of the European Union (EU) in May 2004. Has their accession into the EU also resulted in a stronger financial integration with the global economy in general and with the "old" EU countries in particular? Based on a cointegration analysis applied to...

This study examines the causal relationship between economic growth and financial development in Poland on the basis of quarterly data for the period 2000 Q1–2011 Q4. In order to examine the impact of the 2008 financial crisis on the structure of financial sector-GDP links in Poland we...

The economic literature suggests that the efficient allocation of resources by the financial system speeds up economic development and reduces poverty. However, there are economists who find financial development to be the result of economic growth. This study examines causal relationship...

We develop a model of endogenous lobby formation in which wealth inequality and political accountability undermine entry and financial development. Incumbents seek a low level of effective investor protection to prevent potential entrants from raising capital. They succeed because they can...

We study the effects of differences in local financial development within an integrated financial market. To do so, we construct a new indicator of financial development by estimating a regional effect on the probability that, ceteris paribus, a household is shut off from the credit market. By...

The paper aims to investigate the impact of the liberalization of European Telecommunications Markets, on the Business Ownership Rate, the Employment, the Gross Domestic Product, and the Investment in ICT, in two European countries: Germany and Portugal. For this purpose, a Cointegrated Vector...

Do legal institutions governing financial contracts affect the nature of real investments in the economy? We develop a simple model and provide evidence that the answer to this question is yes. We consider a levered firm's choice of investment between innovative and conservative technologies, on...

This paper shows that utility differences between the self-employed and the employees increase with financial development. This effect is not explained by increased profits but by an increased value of non- monetary benefits, in particular job independence. We interpret these findings by...

This paper uncovers evidence of s potentially important channel linking financial development to growth: the financing of innovations introduced by entrepreneurs. Using internationally comparable data on European countries, entry and exit in research-intensive industries are found to be...