For many years corporate lenders have been a crucial force in the boardroom, providing a check on management and contributing to firm governance. However, lenders’ influence has receded in recent years for a large and important class of corporate borrowers. The culprit is a familiar one in a...

In recognizing that women's participation and gender equity is a precondition for the achievement of acceptable development outcomes, extractives industry companies are increasingly making public commitments to integrating gender equality, inclusion, and women's economic empowerment into aspects...

Outsourcing has become a contentious political issue in the US and other rich countries from where jobs are being outsourced.much of the controversy over outsourcing in the USA is directly linked to the jobs scenario. Does the January 23 Bill mean that America is moving a step away from free...

There is a growing literature measuring research excellence in economics. The h-index is noteworthy in combining quantity and research quality in a single measure of researcher excellence, and its ability to be extended to measure the quantity and quality of the researchers in a department. We...

The paper is devoted to an econometric analysis of learning foreign languages in all parts of the world. Our sample covers 193 countries and 13 important languages. Four factors significantly explain learning, two of which affect the broad decision to learn, while two concern as well the choice...

The emergence of integrative trade and global value chains (GVCs) over the past 20 years has changed the competitive landscape in international goods and services markets. Competition in many lines of businesses, particularly in the manufacturing sector, is now taking place more at a value chain...

The past decades have witnessed a rapid globalisation of economic activity which has significantly changed the outlook of the world economy. An increasing number of firms, countries and other economic actors take part in today's global economy and have become increasingly connected across...