We examine whether institutional investors affect corporate governance by analyzing portfolio holdings of institutions in companies from 23 countries during the period 2003-2008. We find that firm-level governance is positively associated with international institutional investment. Changes in...

Workers' remittances to developing countries have become the second largest type of flows after foreign direct investment. This paper uses data on remittance flows to 109 developing countries during 1975-2007 to study the link between remittances and financial sector development. In particular,...

This book analyzes the status of the markets in Latin America and identifies the technical, political, and financial challenges to building vibrant capital markets and increasing the efficiency benefits of regional economic and financial integration.

We construct a firm-level governance index that increases with minority shareholder protection. Compared with U.S. matching firms, only 12.68% of foreign firms have a higher index. The value of foreign firms falls as their index decreases relative to the index of matching U.S. firms. Our results...