A large literature has studied how peers affect behavior by exploiting the preexisting social network structure only. What if networks rewire in response to changes in the economic environment, such as a randomized intervention? We exploit a unique panel dataset that contains detailed...

Small-scale farming remains the primary source of income for a majority of the population in developing countries. While most farmers primarily work on their own fields, off-farm labor is common among small-scale farmers. A growing literature suggests that off-farm labor is not the result of...

This paper examines the role of institutions (including civil law origin), financial deepening and degree of regime authority on growth rates in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region using panel data through a fixed effect model. The results reveal that English civil law origin and the...

This study investigates the effect of financial perception and behaviour on; (a) general accounts and services, (b) investment/savings and (c) insurance/assurance Using FinScope dataset from South Africa over the period 2003 to 2009,ordered probit, generalized ordered probit and pseudo panel...

This study investigates the access to and usage of financial services in South Africa. Financial services are categorised in three types namely; general accounts and services, investment/savings and insurance/assurance. Taking into account the interactions between usage of different types of...

This paper analyzes the causes of rising savings rates for the corporate, government, and household sectors, which have jointly contributed to the upsurge in aggregate savings in China in the past two decades. Government policies to rebalance the Chinese economy are also explored.

Over the last decade, the internal and external macroeconomic imbalances in China have risen to unprecedented levels. In 2008, China's national savings rate soared to over 53 percent of its GDP, whereas its current account surplus exceeded 9 percent of GDP. The current paper presents a unified...

We use rich firm-level data and national input-output tables from 17 countries over the 2002-2005 period to test new and existing hypotheses about the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the efficiency of domestic firms in the host country (i.e., spillovers). We document that backward...

This paper provides a synthetic and systematic review on the effectiveness of various entrepreneurship programs in developing countries. We adopt a meta-regression analysis using 37 impact evaluation studies that were in the public domain by March 2012, and draw out several lessons on the design...

This policy paper presents key findings and suggestions on Malaysia's old-age financial protection system within the context of the country's broader social security framework. The trademark policy approach focusing on job creation instead of expanding social security programs served the country...