"The objective of this paper is to address the main considerations for China of including financial services in its preferential trade agreements. The paper briefly reviews China's financial liberalization process and the state of its domestic financial system, discusses the main considerations...

"This paper reviews the evidence on the importance of finance for economic well-being, provides data on the degree of use of basic financial services by households and firms across a sample of countries, assesses the desirability of more universal access, and overviews the macroeconomic, legal,...

"A well developed financial system enhances competition in the industrial sector by allowing easier entry. The impact varies across industries, however. For some, small changes in financial development quickly induce entry and dissipate incumbents' rents, generating strong incentives to oppose...

"The openness or internationalization of financial services is a complex issue because it is closely related to structural reforms in the domestic financial sector with some perceived implications for macroeconomic stability. Bayraktar and Wang investigate the impact of foreign bank entry on the...

Cover -- Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations and Glossary -- Overview -- 1 Conceptual Framework, Stylized Facts, and the Role of the Government -- 2 The Use of Long-Term Finance by Firms and Households: Determinants and Impact -- 3 The Use of Markets for Long-Term Finance --...