This paper presents evidence that the traditional banking business of accepting deposits and making loans has declined significantly in the US in recent years. There has been a switch from directly held assets to pension funds and mutual funds. However, banks have maintained their position...

Using household surveys and bank penetration data at the district-level in 2006 and 2009, this paper examines the impact of Equity Bank—a leading private commercial bank focusing on microfinance—on the access to banking in Kenya. Unlike other commercial banks in Kenya, Equity Bank pursues...

We develop a model where institutions form connections through swaps of projects in order to diversify their individual risk. These connections lead to two different network structures. In a clustered network groups of financial institutions hold identical portfolios and default together. In an...

A financial system is fragile if a small shock has a large effect. Sunspot equilibria, where the endogenous variables depend on extrinsic uncertainty, provide an extreme illustration. However, fundamental equilibria, where outcomes depend only on intrinsic uncertainty, can also be fragile. We...

The objective is to compare the effectiveness of financial markets and financial intermediaries in financing new industries and technologies in the presence of diversity of opinion. In markets, investors become informed about the details of the new industry or technology and make their own...

Through a review of the literature, this chapter describes observed forms of alternative finance around the world, as well as their roles. It also uses World Bank Survey Data to empirically compare alternative finance development across countries. We find that alternative finance is essential...

Alternative finance based on social and business networks reaches back far into history. Despite the modern development of banks and financial markets, on a global scale, it remains prevalent and continually transforms with technological advancements. Its macroeconomic value and competitiveness...

We examine the role of China's financial system in supporting economic growth, and explore directions of future development. First, the current financial system is dominated by a large but inefficient banking sector. Reducing the amount of non-performing loans among the major banks to normal...

China is an important counterexample to the findings in the law, institutions, finance, and growth literature: neither its legal nor financial system is well developed by existing standards, yet it has one of the fastest growing economies. We examine 3 sectors of the economy: the State Sector...