Recent empirical OECD studies provide new empirical evidence confirming that financial development is closely linked to economic growth in OECD countries. Using new dynamic panel regression techniques, these appraisals indicate that within the group of high income countries stock market size as...

This paper argues for a transformation of finance to support the economic and social transformation of the Middle East and North Africa. The paper first documents the existing financial system in the region. The system is heavily skewed toward banking, relative to non-banking services, such as...