Recent research has documented large differences among countries in ownership concentration in publicly traded firms, in the breadth and depth of capital markets, in dividend policies, and in the access of firms to external finance. A common element to the explanations of these differences is...

Countries differ significantly in the way they regulate the entry of new businesses. In this paper, we describe the required procedures governing entry regulation, as well as the time and the cost of following theseprocedures, in seventy-five countries. We focus on legal requirements that need...

In this paper we investigate a neglected aspect of financial systems of many countries around the world: government ownership of banks. We assemble data which establish four findings. First, government ownership of banks is large and pervasive around the world. Second, such ownership is greater...