Although globalization has diminished the importance of distance, empirical gravity models find little change in distance coefficients. We argue that changing distance costs are largely reflected in the constant term. A proportional fall in distance costs is consistent with constant distance...

Globalization seems to have diminished the importance of geographical distance. However, empirical studies find that distance coefficients in gravity equations change little over time. This paper argues that changes in distance coefficients do not carry much information on changes in distance...

This paper applies the arguments of institutional economics to the issue of banking system reform. Institutional reforms are of particular importance in the financial sphere because banking operations were heavily restricted under central planning and, at the same time, banks are assigned a...