We document the main features of financial cycles using a comprehensive database of credit, housing and equity prices. We report four major results. First, financial cycles can be protracted and costly episodes. Second, they can feed off each other and worsen, becoming financial crises. Third,...

Financial Crises: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Responses provides a comprehensive overview of research into financial crises and policy lessons learned. The book covers a wide range of crises, including banking, balance of payments, and sovereign debt crises. It begins with an overview of...

While institutional differences have been found to affect country growth patterns, much has remained unexplained, including how economic actors "overcome" institutional weaknesses and how internationalization helps or hinders development. Banking is an institutionally-intensive activity and the...