In mid-September 2008, following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, international interbank markets froze and interbank lending beyond very short maturities virtually evaporated. Despite massive central bank support operations and purchases of key assets, many financial markets remained impaired...

Tajikistan's outlook for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remains challenging as it continues to recover from economic downturn. The SME sector is small but steadily growing in terms of value addition and share of total employment, although access to finance remains poor and financial...

Infrastructure construction is one of the basic driving forces of social and economic development. Since 1978, the construction of infrastructure in the People's Republic of China (PRC) has experienced rapid development, which has given a strong impetus to the PRC's modernization. But behind the...

Green finance, or the issuance of green bonds, has gained strong momentum around the world. Some Asian countries such as the People's Republic of China and Japan are very active in green finance. This study reviews how green finance in Singapore is working, examines existing barriers, and...

This paper surveys studies of the importance of Central Asian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the economy and their experience during the Russian financial crisis. It also uses survey data from the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's Business...

This paper investigates the determinants of corporate green bond issuance using annual firm-level data for 300 issuers of green bonds, which issued green bonds over the period 2017-2021. Using the Poisson fixed-effects models we find that bond-specific characteristics, such as maturity, coupon...

A review of the academic literature on the topic has proved that most studies have been focused on how to finance the risk and indemnify the damages caused by an earthquake, rather than on mitigation measures. This study assessed the impact of quality infrastructure, development indicators and...

The cost of finance has a relatively high impact on the returns and viability of clean energy projects compared with fossil fuel-based energy projects, because the operating costs for renewable energy projects are very low. Credit risk assessment and ratings, which have usually been an...

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a significant role in Asian economies as they contribute to high shares of employment and output. However, SMEs generally have limited access to finance compared to large enterprises. Given the bank-dominated financial systems in Asia, banks are the...

National governments are supposed to play a pivotal role in disaster risk management (DRM). This paper reviews trends and patterns in developing governance and institutions in DRM in the Asia and the Pacific region. The paper then derives recommendations on how to establish disaster risk...