This paper contributes to the literature on FDI and economic growth. We deviate from previous studies by introducing measures of the volatility of FDI inflows. As introduced into the model, these are predicted to have a negative effect on growth. We estimate the standard model using...

Although Africa’s indigenous systems of slavery have been extensively described in the historical literature, comparatively little attention has been paid to analyzing its long term impact on economic and political development. Based on data collected from anthropological records we conduct an...

This article analyses the relationship between foreign bank presence and the performance of the domestic banking sector and takes into account the role of the level of development of the financial sector of the recipient country. We use data of 982 banks in 48 countries for 1990-96. We find...

By using data from the Vietnam household survey, this article estimates determinants of the probability of default for households borrowing from formal, informal and semi-formal credit sectors in Vietnam. A special feature of the article is that it investigates which type of lender is faced with...

By using stochastic frontier analysis, this article examines the technical efficiency of different types of microfinance institutions in Latin America. In particular, it tests whether differences in technical efficiency, both intra- and interfirm, can be explained by differences in ownership....

This paper shows that positive correlation between project outcomes may improve the efficiency of microfinance group lending contracts.

We use experimental data from 35 randomly selected communities in Burundi to examine the impact of exposure to conflict on social-, risk- and time preferences. These types of preferences are important as they determine people’s propensity to invest and their ability to overcome social...