"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...

"Zervos documents the precise costs of debt and equity issuance, both domestically and internationally, for firms in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. Costs include investment banking and legal fees, regulatory and exchange listing costs, rating agency fees, and expenditures for marketing and...

The Regional Program on Enterprise Development (RPED) is designed to examine what specific factors hinder enterprise development in Africa and what can be done to mitigate them. RPED is a research initiative which will collect and analyze a large, varied, and unique set of data. RPED focuses on...

In 2006, 12 low- and middle- income countries implemented at least 47 projects that involved investment commitments totaling US$2 billion according to just-released data from the Private Participation in Infrastructure Database. The annual number of water projects involving the private sector...

Investment commitments to infrastructure projects with private participation grew in 2005, but the number of infrastructure projects reaching financial closure fell, according to just-released data from the Private Participation in Infrastructure Database

The number of water sector projects involving the private sector grew in 2005, but investment flows to these projects fell considerably, according to just-released data from the Private Participation in Infrastructure Database

Two of the seven major development challenges of the Royal Government of Bhutan identified for the Donors Development Forum, held in Thimpu in November 2000, were private sector development and employment generation. Given the fact that the public sector is unlikely to expand further in the...