Countries with small financial systems are generally small economies with a reduced dimension of institutional relationships, a greater concentration of wealth, and a relatively less independent civil service. These characteristics facilitate concentration of functions and, more generally, weak...

Countries with small financial systems are generally small economies with a reduced dimension of institutional relationships, a greater concentration of wealth, and a relatively less independent civil service. These characteristics facilitate concentration of functions and, more generally, weak...

This paper argues that contractual savings (assets of pension funds and life insurance companies) contribute to the improvemnet of banks' efficiency, credit, and liquidity risk. The authors use bank level panel data across countries to assess the impact of contractual savings on bank efficiency...