Diversification of the financial sector has been one of the central features of China's recent and rapid economic growth. This book traces the development of China's Trust and Investment Companies (TICs), the most numerous non-bank financial institutions to emerge in China, and their link to the...

This paper uses international cross-sectional and time-series infrastructure bond risk premium and credit rating history data from the past decade to examine the factors that influence investor risk perceptions and that inflate the cost of borrowing for essential infrastructure. The information...

The COVID-19 pandemic adds further challenges to the development of capital markets. For many emerging markets and developing economies challenges have intensified because of (i) the deterioration in the macroeconomic environment, including the contraction of the economies, and larger fiscal...

Following a decade of conflicts, Western Balkan countries accomplished robust economic growth in the 2000s. This growth pattern was domestic demand driven and externally financed, hence was hampered significantly by the global financial crisis and subsequent euro area debt crisis. Despite modest...