In this paper, the authors analyze the relationship between banking concentration and financial stability for a sample of 173 developed and developing countries over the period 1980–2011. First, they empirically examined the direct effect of banking concentration on financial stability by...

This chapter discusses whether the Middle East and North African (MENA) countries are prone to be cursed or blessed by their natural resources endowments. It thus reviews the literature on the resource curse theory. The existence of a resource curse is discussed and arguments against advocates...