We examine the extent to which markets enable the provision of housing finance across a wide range of countries. Housing is a major purchase requiring long-term financing, and the factors that are associated with well functioning housing finance systems are those that enable the provision of...

From a broad macro-financial structure perspective, overly easy credit conditions gave rise to house price booms and busts in several advanced economies (e.g., Ireland, Spain, and the U.S.), and, more specifically in the U.S., an underpricing of risk made possible by regulatory arbitrage and...

We show that sovereign debt impairments can have a significant impact on financial markets and real economies through a credit ratings channel. Specifically, we find that firms reduce their investment and reliance on credit markets due to a rising cost of debt capital following a sovereign...

This paper studies the impact of the number of sovereign credit rating and outlook changes on the access to credit by firms. The data sample consists of 127,000 firms from 139 countries surveyed by World Bank over the period, 2006 to 2016. An ordered logit model is used as a primary tool for...

This paper presents new data on the depth and penetration of mortgage markets across countries. We find a large variation across both dimensions of mortgage market development, both across countries but also – in terms of depth – within countries. Mortgage markets seem to develop only at...

Can banks maintain their advantage as liquidity providers when exposed to a financial crisis? While banks honored their credit lines drawn by firms during the 2007-09 crisis, this provision of liquidity by banks was only possible because of explicit, large support from the government and...

Can banks maintain their advantage as liquidity providers when exposed to a financial crisis? While banks honored their credit lines drawn by firms during the 2007-09 crisis, this provision of liquidity by banks was only possible because of explicit, large support from the government and...

We analyse the wide array of rescue programmes adopted in several countries, following Lehman Brothers' default in September 2008, in order to support banks and other financial institutions. We first provide an overview of the programmes, comparing their characteristics, magnitudes and...

Can banks maintain their advantage as liquidity providers when exposed to a financial crisis? While banks honored their credit lines drawn by firms during the 2007-09 crisis, this provision of liquidity by banks was only possible because of explicit, large support from the government and...