The Czech financial sector has changed dramatically since transition. In fifteen years, it has developed from a state-owned mono-bank into a privatised bank-based financial system with developing capital and private equity markets. This country focus analyses the development of the financial...

This paper analyses the link between finance and growth by studying the effect that the process of financial deregulation and harmonisation of banking laws at the EU level has brought about on growth over the last 40 years. Our main findings point to the existence of a positive long-run growth...

Over the past decades, cross-border financial flows have increased in importance and have in many occasions exceeded the underlying current account positions. This phenomenon has been accompanied by an increase in the volume of international equity transactions that accentuate the role of...

The new member states should not expect EU money to lead to miracles. The most important ingredients of catch-up growth are a stable macroeconomic framework; supply-side policies that help markets to adjust quickly; and a well-trained, flexible workforce. EU aid will only make a positive...

This study has evaluated the General and Sector Budget Support operations undertaken in Tanzania from 2005/06 to 2011/12. These operations amount to a resource transfer of almost US$5,000 million - an annual average disbursement of US$ 694 million, some $16 per annum per head of the Tanzanian...

This paper investigates a dynamic general equilibrium model with search. In particular, search externalities are reßected by an increasing returns to scale matching function, which may imply an indeterminate equilibrium. Hence, the model is capable to generate business ßuctuations, driven by...

In 2006 the external net borrowing requirement of the Spanish economy was almost 8% of GDP, after having been in balance between 1993 and 1998. This increased borrowing requirement is the financial mirror image of a growth model, in which corporate and households' investments are generating an...

One feature of the global economy in recent years has been the increasing number and importance of new investment funds (private equity (PE), hedge funds (HFs), and sovereign wealth funds (SWFs)), which are sometimes referred to as alternative investment funds (AIFs). This increase has...

This report examines whether investment funds – in particular, private equity, hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds – help to revive underperforming companies and thereby contribute to employment growth or whether, on the contrary, they strive to maximise financial returns at the expense...

The study examines the incidence of vulnerability across the EU28 and Iceland and Norway, and the factors explaining any observed vulnerability. The study uses a range of information sources (literature review, stakeholder interviews, consumer survey and consumer experiments in five countries)...