The authors present cross-country evidence consistent with Joseph Schumpeter's view that the financial system can promote economic growth, using data on eighty countries over the 1960-89 period. Various measures of the level of financial development are strongly associated with real per capita...

This critique argues that the preponderance of theoretical reasoning and empirical evidence suggests a positive, first-order relationship between financial development and economic growth. The body of work would push even most skeptics toward the belief that the development of financial markets...

While scholars have hypothesized about the sources of variation in property rights for over 2500 years, it is only very recently that researchers have begun to test these theories empirically. This paper reviews both the theory and empirical evidence supporting and refuting the law and endowment...

Purpose – The purpose of this postmortem is to assess whether the design, implementation, and maintenance of financial policies during the period from 1996 through 2006 were primary causes of the financial system's demise. Design/methodology/approach – To draw conclusions about the policy...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss and provide new data and measures of bank regulatory and supervisory policies in 180 countries from 1999 to 2011. Design/methodology/approach – The authors' approach is based upon the quantification of hundreds of questions, including...