This paper studies whether there is a connection between finance and growth at the firm level. It employs a new dataset of 150,165 equity and bond issuances around the world, matched with income and balance sheet data for 62,653 listed firms in 65 countries over 1990-2016. Three main patterns...

Industry and financial profiles of MENA firms may underpin the observation that MENA country exports are below potential and skewed toward low value-added goods that are unable to spur rapid job creation and inclusive growth. To assess this link, the paper combines analysis highlighting external...

State-owned enterprises play an important role in economic growth and the delivery of critical public services such as health, education, water, and energy. The underperformance of state-owned enterprises can lead to significant challenges in overall national growth and competitiveness and pose...

Large firms pay higher wages. In developing economies, the large-firm wage premium is comparable to the average gap between male and female wages, or two-thirds of the gap between urban and rural wages. There is substantial variation across countries in the share of the premium that is explained...