Using the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey, this article investigates how Russian households' consumption responds to income shocks and, in particular, how household wealth and human capital affect the households' ability to smooth consumption. An instrumental variable estimation method...

China's rapid industrialization over the past several decades, which has occurred in the absence of well-functioning financial markets, seems to defy conventional wisdom on the causal role of finance on industrialization. By conducting an in-depth case study on a fast-growing cashmere sweater...