The paper provides a realistic explanation for the persistently large loan costs in the informal and formal credit markets of South Asia. In the presence of the adverse selection problems that arise from information asymmetries and discrepancies in credit services, price competition in somewhat...

Despite evidence to the contrary from South Asia, one would expect international credit subsidies to stimulate a reduction in rural interest rates. Previous studies suggest that collusion among formal and informal lenders is responsible for preclusive interest rates and excessive economic rents....

The outstanding export performance of South Asian countries (India in particular) over the 1990s has prompted some observers to see in it the roots of an export-led growth similar to that of its Southeast Asian neighbors. We employ export unit values (UVs) cum real competitiveness analysis to...

In the paper, I argue that different management approaches in International Financial Institutions (IFIs) are receptive to different economic and theoretical paradigms, which in turn lead decision makers to different design of investment, and such differences in design and investment lead to...

Regional economic integration through logistics, information network and connectivity improvement can increase the 'virtual size' of an economy as trade with neighboring countries increases. This leads to substantial benefits from scale, network, coordination and agglomeration economies. As is...

The authors of this book link productivity change, trade competitiveness, networks of interaction and cooperation and income growth in developing Asian countries with the complex evolutionary processes of economic development and international trade. They take an innovative approach to...

Economic corridors connect economic agents along a defined geography. They provide important connections between economic nodes or hubs that are usually centered in urban landscapes. They do not stand alone, as their role in regional economic development can be comprehended only in terms of the...