This paper examines motivations for large firms to choose an Islamic loan over a conventional loan. This investigation helps understanding the causes of the expansion of Islamic finance activities. We employ a dataset of Islamic and conventional syndicated loans from countries from the Middle...

We investigate whether lending by the dominant Russian state bank, Sberbank, contributed to Vladimir Putin's ascent to power during the presidential elections of March 2000. Our hypothesis is that Sberbank corporate loans could have been used as incentives for managers at private firms to...

To analyze whether the occurrence of elections affects access to credit for firms, we perform an investigation using firm-level data covering 44 developed and developing countries. The results show that elections impair access to credit. Specifically, firms are more credit-constrained in...

To analyze whether the occurrence of elections affects access to credit for firms, we perform an investigation using firm-level data covering 44 developed and developing countries. The results show that elections impair access to credit. Specifically, firms are more credit-constrained in...