Using U.S. securities markets as a case history, the author explores the role securities markets play in economic development, how they emerge, and how regulation can make them more effective. Why the United States? Two centuries ago, it was a small undeveloped country with serious financial...

In many countries, well-meant ad hoc tax incentives proliferate over time, creating an opaque corporate tax structure and many unanticipated tax loopholes. Tax authorities in several countries have considered and sometimes introduced minimum corporate taxes. Liability under such a tax is...

The author examines the effect of product and geographic diversification on firm value for a sample of 1,914 corporations in 18 countries. His results indicate that both product and geographic diversification destroy value at high levels of diversification, suggesting that agency and influence...

The authors analyze the relationship between the development and asset allocation of contractual savings and firms'capital structures. The authors develop a simple model of firms'leverage and debt maturity decisions. They illustrate the mechanisms through which contractual savings development...

Using firm-level data from 52 countries, the authors investigate how a country's institutions and business environment affect firms'organizational choices and the effects of organizational form on access to finance and growth. They find that businesses are more likely to choose the corporate...

The authors examine the behavior of four major components of international capital flows in 15 developing and industrial countries. Striking differences in the behavior of the component flows arise in general specifications that allow the flows to interact. For example, the behavior of...

Institutional investors have become tremendously important in U.S. capital markets in recent years. But a study of 557 U.S. manufacturing firms (1985-90) shows the role of such investors to be mixed. Results show the following: 1) institutional ownership has a positive effect on capital spending...

The objective of this paper is to clarify, on the basis of detailed farm level data derived from recent surveys,the importance of factors related to tenure security, farm size and credit availability in constraining farmers'agricultural investment. In particular, a direct measure of...

Non-bank financial intermediaries (NBFIs) comprise a mixed bag of institutions, ranging from leasing, factoring, and venture capital companies to various types of contractual savings and institutional investors (pension funds, insurance companies, and mutual funds). The common characteristic of...

This study identifies the macro conditions under which industrial growth and financial stability are most likely, and those conditions which are most prone to create disaster. The paper models interest rates, exchange rates, and aggregate demand conditions as affecting industrial growth and...