While financial inclusion is typically addressed by improving the financial infrastructure we show that financial literacy, representing the demand-side of financial markets, also has a beneficial effect. We study this effect at the cross-country level, which allows to consider institutional...

How do banks offer mortgages through on online platform to areas without their branch presence? Unique data on responses from different banks to applicant households yield three salient findings: First, banks offer 4% more often and 6 basis points cheaper credit when markets have high versus low...

Project Stella studies the possible use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) on financial market infrastructures (FMIs). DLT solutions have the potential to improve the safety and efficiency of existing systems, as shown by research undertaken by central banks and FMIs. Yet, balancing...

The rapid rise of financial technology (fintech) in the People's Republic of China (PRC) inevitably generates financial risks. To prevent and resolve these risks, the government has regulated many fintech application areas, including peer-to-peer lending, third-party payment, cryptocurrency,...

This paper examines the current situation concerning financial inclusion and financial literacy in Kazakhstan and future prospects. Since 2000, the financial sector has been developing rapidly, driven by petrodollars, which has led to higher financial inclusion. However, the improvement in...

The main objective of this paper is to measure banks' capability to nurture and develop client firms. Banks nowadays are required not only to act as providers of capital but also to provide consultation to and continuously support the restructuring and development of client firms through...

We construct a novel U.S. data set that matches bank holding company credit default swap (CDS) positions to detailed U.S. credit registry data containing both loan and corporate bond holdings to study the effects of banks' CDS use on corporate credit quality. Banks may use CDS to mitigate agency...

For social and economic reasons, national economies benefit from the inclusion of as many people as possible in financial services. In a cross country study, the present study shows that financial literacy for the general population promotes financial inclusion. This relationship goes beyond the...

Using the 2011 China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) database, we explore the heterogeneous impacts of social networks on informal financial inclusion for urban and rural households in the PRC. We find that social networks significantly increase the probability of households' participation in...

This paper models the important role that repurchase agreements (repos) play in bond market intermediation. Not only do repos allow dealers to finance their activities, but they also increase dealers' ability to satisfy levered client demands without having to adjust their holdings of risky...