The recent financial crisis has shown that financial innovation can have devastating systemic impacts. International standard setters' and national regulators' response has been a global concerted effort to overhaul and tighten financial regulations. However, at a time of designing stricter...

The recent financial crisis has shown that financial innovation can have devastating systemic impacts. International standard setters' and national regulators' response has been a global concerted effort to overhaul and tighten financial regulations. However, at a time of designing stricter...

The recent financial crisis has shown that financial innovation can have devastating systemic impacts. International standard setters'' and national regulators'' response has been a global concerted effort to overhaul and tighten financial regulations. However, at a time of designing stricter...

This paper examines financial inclusion and development in the CEMAC. We explore the level of financial inclusion in the CEMAC through a benchmarking exercise.We construct a measure of financial development gap and analyze its determinants. Using panel data regressions, we find that inflation,...

This paper examines the determinants of public debt dynamics in Low Income Countries (LICs) over the period 1990-2003. Debt dynamics in LICs are influenced not only by macroeconomic variables but also by the composition of debt and the provision of debt relief over time. The study considers a...

This paper discusses the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative in the perspective of sizable historical debt relief and large positive net resource flows to HIPCs. It argues that, by substantially reducing HIPCs' debt stocks and debt service payments, the Initiative provides a solid...

Ohne Geburtsurkunde kein Personalausweis, ohne Ausweis kein Zugang zu Finanzdienstleistungen - dieser Zusammenhang mag in Industrieländern als trivial erscheinen. Die gleichberechtigte Teilhabe am ökonomischen Leben scheitert hier nicht an fehlenden Ausweisdokumenten. In vielen...

The poor can and do save, but often use formal or informal instruments that have high risk, high cost, and sub-optimal design. This could lead to undersaving compared to a world without market or behavioral frictions. Undersaving has important welfare consequences: variable consumption, low...

The poor can and do save, but often use formal or informal instruments that have high risk, high cost, and limited functionality. This could lead to undersaving compared to a world without market or behavioural frictions. Undersaving can have important welfare consequences: variable consumption,...

We examine the relations between the financial and outreach efficiency of Cambodian microfinance institutions (MFIs). Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) finds that commercially focused MFIs are no less efficient at reaching the poor than non-profit ones. Larger MFIs appear as efficient at reaching...