This paper focuses on the relevance to emerging economies of three major financial reforms following the global financial crisis of 2007–2009: the improved capital requirements intended to reduce the risk of bank failure ('Basel III'), the improved recovery and resolution regimes for global...

The year 2009 is a propitious time to evaluate systems of investor protection in financial markets as global bank losses exceed the 1 trillion mark and market losses equally exceed the 1 trillion mark. Prior to the Global Financial Crisis, the European Union enacted sweeping legislation to...

Countries in the MENAP and CCA regions have the lowest levels of financial inclusion of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the world. The paper provides empirical evidence on the drivers of SME access to finance for a large sample of countries, and identifies key policy priorities for these...

Social infrastructure has endured a long period of neglect in most developed and emerging countries, with chronic underinvestment exposed by the coronavirus crisis 2020. The financial crisis 2007/08 led to a slow revival of economic infrastructure policies, and a growing involvement of...

Many researchers have shown that differences in legal origin explain differences in financial development. Using historical comparisons and cross-country regressions for 30 countries observed for the period from 2005 to 2010, this study tried to assess if different legal origins impacted on the...

Financial inclusion - access to financial services - is increasing worldwide, often with official support. This special feature discusses the implications for central banks. Greater financial inclusion changes the behaviour of firms and consumers in ways that could influence the effectiveness of...

This research report is the result of a partnership between the World Bank Group (WBG) and Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) of Japan, initiated by the World Bank Group's President, Jim Yong Kim, and GPIF's Chief Investment Officer, Hiro Mizuno. The aim is for the World Bank and IFC –...

In this paper we analyze the effects of financial constraints on the exchange rate through the portfolio balance channel. Our contribution is twofold: First, we construct a tractable two-period general equilibrium model in which financial constraints inhibit capital flows. Hence, departures from...

This paper investigates whether volatility of financial development plays a role in determining industrial growth volatility. Three key findings emerge. First, overwhelming evidence supports the view that more volatile financial development raises the industrial volatility in sectors that rely...

Theoretical work suggests an ambiguous relationship between the strength of institutions and the distribution of access to finance. Using a sample of listed firms from 70 countries, this study constructs country-level measures of inequality in access to external finance, and explores its...