A number of ongoing reforms of corporate law are motivated by the need to stimulate entrepreneurship and business creation. Building on the observations that entry is characterised by sunk costs and that the markets for small business finance are imperfectly competitive, we identify a previously...

Since the late 1970s, the Chinese government has been undertaking major efforts in developing their countries economy by means of industrial policy. However, a more narrow approach to industrial policy has been pursued only since 2010, with the initiation of the 'Strategic Emerging Industries'...

This updated note – the fifth in a series – provides an introduction to the fields of project finance and infrastructure finance, and gives a statistical overview of project-financed investments over the past five years. Examples of project-financed investments include the $1.4 billion Mozal...

Purpose - This paper focuses on Ṣukūk issuance determinants in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Given the dual characteristic of debt and equity of Ṣukūk as well as their unique benefits of social responsibility, the author questions whether the theories of capital structure, the...

We examine the effect of competition laws on external financing and investment decisions around the world. Using a large sample of 21,801 firms across 32 countries, we find a positive association between the stringency of competition laws, and external financing and investment. Our finding is...