A study of 53 countries during 1980-95 finds that financial liberalization increases the probability of a banking crisis, but less so where the institutional environment is strong. In particular, respect for the rule of law, a low level of corruption, and good contract enforcement are relevant institutional characteristics. the data also show that, after liberalization, financially repressed countries tend to have improved financial development even if they experience a banking crisis. This is not true for financially restrained countries. This paper’s results support a cautious approach to financial liberalization where institutions are weak, even if macroeconomic stabilization has been achieved.

We examine the short- and long-run effects of financial liberalization on capital markets. To do so, we construct a new comprehensive chronology of financial liberalization in 28 mature and emerging economies since 1973. We also construct an algorithm to identify booms and busts in stock market prices. Our results indicate that financial liberalization is followed by more pronounced boom-bust cycles in the short run. However, financial liberalization leads to more stable markets in the long run. Finally, we analyze the sequencing of liberalization and institutional reforms to understand the contrasting short- and long-run effects of liberalization.

This paper undertakes a survey of theoretical considerations and an analysis of the experience of five African countries with interest rate liberalization. Despite substantial progress in monetary policy reforms, liberalization has only partially affected the level and variability of interest rates. Several factors—macroeconomic instability, oligopolistic financial markets, the absence of developed capital markets, as well as the sequencing of the liberalization programs and the asymmetric availability of information—explain the increase in the spread between lending and deposit rates as well as the rather inflexible pattern of interest rates during the transition to a market-based financial system.

In this study, the author hopes to add to the literature concerning the distributional consequences of financial integration by focusing on the rise of non-state actors within a transformed international system. In it, he argues that structural change brought on by transnational production and post-industrialization has created space for non-state actors to acquire autonomy from sovereign entities. While finance is by no means the only specialized sector to achieve autonomy, it has perhaps the most immediate impact on the ability of governments to pursue policy. First published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This volume provides a rounded view of financial liberalization after the collapses in East Asia.

In this new book a group of 18 distinguished authors presents comprehensive surveys of current issues in the field of finance and development. . . This book nicely bridges the gap between general research on the role of finance for economic growth and the role finance plays for developing economies and poverty reduction. . . Moreover, the authors identify a great number of promising ideas for future research. . . Ryszard Kokoszczynski, SUERF Newsletter The European Money & Finance Forum In the last two decades, the role of finance in the development process has become a major topic of research and debate. Although it is widely agreed that there is an important link between the two, there is much less consensus on the exact nature of the relationship. Is financial development a prerequisite for general economic development, or is it a more passive by-product of the development process? In this valuable new book, a distinguished group of authors takes stock of the existing state of knowledge in the field of finance and the development process. Each chapter offers a comprehensive survey and synthesis of current issues. These include such critical subjects as savings, financial markets and the macroeconomy, stock market development, financial regulation, foreign investment and aid, financing livelihoods, microfinance, rural financial markets, small and medium enterprises, corporate finance and banking. This book will be accessible to postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students of finance and development. It will also be an essential reference source for all professionals and academics working in this area who want to learn how finance can contribute to the development process and poverty reduction.

Financial sector liberalization can spur economic growth and development, but reforms to liberalize the financial sector can also entail risks if they are not properly designed and implemented. One of the central questions for countries reforming their financial systems is how to sequence the reforms so as to maximize the benefits of liberalization and contain its risks. Edited by R. Barry Johnston and V. Sundararajan of the IMF's Monetary and Exchange Affairs Department, this book attempts to answer this and related questions by drawing lessons from financial sector reforms in selected countries. In particular, the book surveys financial sector reforms in Indonesia, Thailand, and Korea between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s.

This book discusses the relationship between financial liberalization, financial deepening and economic performance from both a theoretical and a policy perspective, comparing several 'big' emerging countries: Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Russia, South Africa and India, amongst others.