For an international sample of banks, we construct measures of a bank's absolute size and its systemic size defined as size relative to the national economy. We then examine how a bank's risk and return, its activity mix and funding strategy, and the extent to which it faces market discipline...

This paper studies whether compliance with the Basel Core Principles for effective banking supervision is associated with bank soundness. Using data for more than 3,000 banks in 86 countries, the authors find that neither the overall index of compliance with the Basel Core Principles nor the...

This paper describes important trade-offs that microfinance practitioners, donors, and regulators navigate. Drawing evidence from large, global surveys of microfinance institutions, the authors find a basic tension between meeting social goals and maximizing financial performance. For example,...

This paper introduces the updated and expanded version of the Financial Development and Structure Database and presents recent trends in structure and development of financial institutions and markets across countries. The authors add indicators on banking structure and financial globalization....

This paper investigates how international regulatory and institutional differences affect lending in the cross-border syndicated loan market. Lending provided through a foreign subsidiary is subject to subsidiary-country regulation and institutional arrangements. Multinational banks' choices...