Financial inclusion-defined here as the use of formal accounts-can bring many welfare benefits to individuals. Yet we know very little about the factors underpinning financial inclusion across individuals and countries. Using data for 123 countries and over 124,000 individuals, this paper tries...

This paper analyzes the Asian crisis in the context of past and present financial crises to provide a model of asset price bubbles and ensuing crisis in developing and other economies. It is argued that financial structure matters for economic growth but is not that important for preventing...

Some have argued that recent increases in credit risk transfer are desirable because they improve the diversification of risk. Others have suggested that they may be undesirable if they increase the risk of financial crises. Using a model with banking and insurance sectors, we show that credit...