We study the governance role of Russian Financial-Industrial Groups (FIG) and their impact on the allocation of capital. We compare member firms of groups with a control set of firms categorized by dispersed ownership or/and management and employee control. We distinguish between hierarchical...

We study investment timing under uncertainty and imperfect competition. The real options literature studies investment timing when (a) the firm has a monopoly over an investment opportunity, and (b) the product market is perfectly competitive. As a result, firms tend to postpone investment as...

In the Anglo-American capital market tradition, shareholders hold only equity and creditors only debt. Suppliers and corporate customers may extend credit to each other, but they typically do not have shareholding relationships. In particular, these relationships are rarely reciprocal. On the...

In this article, we review the recent academic research on the valuation of Internet companies. In particular, we focus on the valuation method(s) which were said to be suitable for new economy start ups in the boom years 1998-2000, and conclude that they were neither novel nor very accurate....

We present a model of endogenous lobby formation in which wealth inequality and political accountability undermine both entry and financial development. The elite will seek a lower level of effective minority protection than the middle class to prevent potential entrants from raising financing....

This paper studies the financing of enterprise investment in listed Hungarian firms during the first years of transition. These firms were selected for listing on the exchange and presumably had better access to external capital. In particular, we look for evidence of financial constraints that...

Perotti reviews the state of thinking on the governance role of state ownership. He argues that a gradual transfer of operational control and financial claims over state assets remains the most desirable goal, but it needs to be paced to avoid regulatory capture, and the capture of the...

The paper develops a theoretical framework to analyse foreign investment and asset prices in a context of uncertainty over future government policy, and tests it on a time series of option prices written on Hang Seng stocks. The model endogenizes the process of learning by foreign investors...

We provide a framework to interpret the recent literature on financial development and inequality. In many developing countries, access to funding and financial services by firms and households is still very skewed. Recent evidence suggests that poor access does not only reflect economic...

External finance is critical for less established entrepreneurs, so poor investor protection can hinder competition. We model how lobbying by incumbents may reduce access to finance in countries where politicians are less accountable to voters. In a broad cross-section of countries and...