Developing Asia's financial depth as a whole compares favorably with other parts of the developing world, but there are wide variations across subregions and economies. This paper examines the key features and reform priorities of the financial systems in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Georgia, Mongolia,...

October 2000 - Financial liberalization reduces imperfections in financial markets by reducing the agency costs of financial leverage. Small firms gain most from liberalization, because the favoritism of preferential credit directed to large firms tends to disappear under liberalization. Laeven...

April 2000 - As financial liberalization progressed, the general level of real interest rates increased more in developing countries than it did in industrial countries. Volatility in wholesale interest rates also jumped, often markedly, in most liberalizing countries. Treasury bill rates and...

We study empirically how the positive effects of capital account liberalization on economic growth can be magnified or reduced by Corruption control. We develop a model in which Corruption control and capital account liberalization promote growth, but acts as substitutes. We test this...

The degree of an economy's monetization, which has an important implication on economic growth, can be affected by the conduct of monetary policy, financial sector reform, and episodes of financial crises. The paper finds that monetization--measured by the ratio of broad money to nominal GDP--...