In 1865, the first minority bank in the United States was established. Over time, banks owned or controlled by minorities have grown in number. Yet, one hundred and fifty years later, they still account for only 2.8 percent of all banks. The contribution of this paper is fourfold. First, it...

This paper evaluates whether reform efforts addressing “too big to fail” actually enhance the stability of the financial system, and whether trade-offs exist between stability and efficiency. We also present and discuss various measures of bank size and complexity since such measures are...

In this paper and the associated online database, we provide new data and measures of bank regulatory and supervisory policies in 180 countries from 1999 to 2011. The data include and the measures are based upon responses to hundreds of questions, including information on permissible bank...

Throughout the past three decades of fast growth, China has undergone tremendous structural changes in its economy. There has been significant and continuing industrialization, urbanization and integration into the world economy. The financial system has also undergone major changes, with the...

The General Agreement on Trade in Services (known as the GATS) is an important new element in the international framework that affects the regulation of every WTO Member's financial sector. However, except for a limited number of country-specific case studies, no attempt has been made to compare...

This paper examines the impact of terrorism on economic growth and capital formation using data for 152 countries from 1970 to 2003.During the past thirty-five years, the world has witnessed nearly twenty thousand terrorist incidents. The increasingly global scope of terrorism has raised...