Staff Discussion Notes showcase the latest policy-related analysis and research being developed by individual IMF staff and are published to elicit comment and to further debate. These papers are generally brief and written in nontechnical language, and so are aimed at a broad audience...

Low-income countries continue to face significant challenges in meeting their vast development needs while maintaining a sustainable debt position, even after many of these countries have benefited from substantial debt relief. These challenges are further exacerbated by changes in the financial...

Financial globalization has increased dramatically over the past three decades, particularly for advanced economies, while emerging market and developing countries experienced more moderate increases. Divergences across countries stem from different capital control regimes, and factors such as...

The close link between the personal financial affairs of a small business owner and his or her firm has been noted in prior research. This article compares attitudes toward risk on the part of small business owners (SBOs) and non-small business owners (NSBOs). In addition, it compares the...

The nature and role of early stage equity financing in the development of emerging entrepreneurial ventures in the software industry is examined. To provide an understanding of the relationship between the suppliers of capital and the ventures they bankroll, issues concerning equity positions...

This paper empirically explores the impact of bank size, holding company affiliation and the degree of branching on small business and farm lending through a conceptual analysis encompassing private information asymmetries inherent in these bank dependent borrowers. The study expands the...

Two main approaches have been utilized to explain the relationship between entrepreneurs and their investors. The first is based on the separation of ownership and management i.e. the so-called principal-agent approach. The second emphasizes trust and cooperation in the relationship. This...

We empirically examine a sample of over 350 entrepreneurial firms that successfully receive an SBA guaranteed loan. The first portion of the paper contains descriptive statistics that lend anecdotal evidence concerning the organization type of borrowers, the incidence of collateral, the reasons...

The ultimate goal of risk management is the generation of efficient incomes. The objective is to generate the maximum return for a unit of risk taken or to minimise the risk taken to generate the return expected i.e. it is the optimisation of a financial institution strategy. Therefore, by...

Implementation of each stage of pension reform aimed at formation of optimal pension system in Ukraine requires proper governance in the field of pension provision. The article provides the study of prerequisites for pension management formation, determining its main objectives and role in the...