"Previous research has documented weak, and sometimes conflicting, effects of legal quality on measures of firm debt. Using WorldScope data for 1,689 firms, as well as more detailed proprietary data for 315 firms across nine East Asian countries, the authors find that access to foreign financing...

"Despite the popularity of the term among advocates of debt forgiveness, there is little agreement on a workable definition of "odious" debts and there are but few examples where the concept has been invoked in law to justify non-payment of sovereign debts. Most often, these have been cases when...

Improving debt transparency is critical for promoting debt sustainability and creditworthiness assessments, increasing the accuracy of public debt information, and protecting the interests of a diverse range of stakeholders. The importance of debt transparency, the costs associated with the lack...

This report assesses Montenegro's public and external debt sustainability under alternative scenarios. The baseline scenario assumes continued implementation of a macroeconomic stabilization and structural reform program, while the low case scenario describes the alternative of a sluggish growth...

This is the second of the series of Debt Reports for 2022 to be published online and provide users with data and analysis on external and public debt of low- and middle-income countries. Debt Report 2022 second edition presents preliminary estimates of external debt stocks at end-2021 for low-...

"The differences in the levels of financial development between industrial and developing countries are large and persistent. Theoretical and empirical literature has argued that these differences are the source of comparative advantage and could therefore shape trade patterns. This paper points...