This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between financial openness and total factor productivity (TFP) growth using an extensive dataset that includes various measures of productivity and financial openness for a large sample of countries. We find that de jure capital...

We identify structural breaks in economic growth in 140 countries and use these to define ""growth spells:"" periods of high growth preceded by an upbreak and ending either with a downbreak or with the end of the sample. Growth spells tend to be shorter in African and Latin American countries...

Exchange rates, interest rates and share prices are subject - at least occasionally - to great fluctuations. Diverse economists regard the volatility of international financial markets as a threat to the goods and labour markets. They blame the price turbulences on the speculative behaviour of a...

Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION -- II. FINANCIAL INTEGRATION REDUCES RISK -- III. ESTIMATION METHODOLOGY AND DATA -- IV. RESULTS -- V. CONCLUSION -- Appendix. Data Sources and Construction -- References.

The long-held truism that finance is always good for growth has been called into question by the global financial crisis. This article examines new evidence on the finance-growth nexus from a European perspective. More specifically, it compares the approach of many CESEE countries - i.e....

Vigorous debate over the effectiveness of the fiscal adjustment programmes for the crisis-stricken countries in the eurozone has grown quite polarised. In this Forum, several experts use analytical, evidence-based approaches to gauge the effectiveness of these programmes. The role played by the...