The presence of political risk is a worldwide phenomenon that has affected most national stock markets in the twentieth century. Within this context, it is often said that returns of the stock markets are affected by the Parliamentary happenings. Our study is a first examination of a wide range...

A well developed financial system enhances competition in the industrial sector by allowing easier entry. The impact varies across industries, however. For some, small changes in financial development quickly induce entry and dissipate incumbents' rents, generating strong incentives to oppose...

Why do some countries suffer from backward financial institutions and weak corporate governance rules? We show that, even if, overall, the economy would benefit corporate governance reforms, not all the agents would stand to gain from the improvement. In particular, entrepreneurs and firms that...

Abstract: There have been profound changes in both political and economic institutions in China over the last twenty years. Moreover, the pace of transition has led to variation across the country in the level of development. In this paper, we use panel data for the Chinese provinces to study...

The paper provides a structural and political account of financial interventionism in Southern Europe (Spain, Portugal and Greece) and examines competing explanations for financial liberalization. It focuses on the economic and political objectives underlying financial reform, and the costs and...

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...

The emergence of Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF) has signaled a major reshaping of the world's economy: financial actors from developing countries playing on an equal footing with the financial giants of OECD countries. Rising financial centers such as Singapore, Dubai or Shanghai have nurtured...