Using a firm-level survey database covering 48 countries, Beck, Demirgüç-Kunt, and Maksimovic investigate whether differences in financial and legal development affect the way firms finance their investments. The results indicate that external financing of investments is not a function of institutions, although the form of external finance is. The authors identify two explanations for this. First, legal and financial institutions affect different types of external finance in offsetting ways. Second, firm size is an important determinant of whether firms can have access to different types of external finance. Larger firms with financing needs are more likely to use external finance compared with small firms. The results also indicate that these firms are more likely to use external finance in more developed financial systems, particularly debt and equity finance. The authors also find evidence consistent with the pecking order theory in financially developed countries, particularly for large firms. This paper--a product of Finance, Development Research Group--is part of a larger effort in the group to understand firms' access to financial services.

In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the emerging field of cultural finance. It summarizes research results of cultural differences in financial decision making and financial markets. Many of the results have been published in leading academic journals over the last ten years but some are presented here for the first time. The book is based on an international survey on risk and time preferences — the INTRA study, conducted in 53 countries worldwide. Applications to financial markets include the equity premium puzzle, the value premium, dividend payout policies and asset allocations.

The research reported in this volume represents the second stage of a wide-ranging National Bureau of Economic Research effort to investigate "The Changing Role of Debt and Equity in Financing U.S. Capital Formation." The first group of studies sponsored under this project, which have been published individually and summarized in a 1982 volume bearing the same title (Friedman 1982), addressed several key issues relevant to corporate sector behavior along with such other aspects of the evolving financial underpinnings of U.S. capital formation as household saving incentives, international capital flows, and government debt management. In the project's second series of studies, presented at the National Bureau of Economic Research conference in January 1983 and published here for the first time along with commentaries from that conference, the central focus is the financial side of capital formation undertaken by the U.S. corporate business sector. At the same time, because corporations' securities must be held, a parallel focus is on the behavior of the markets that price these claims.

In an ever-changing economy, market specialists strive to find new ways to evaluate the risks and potential reward of economic ventures. They start by assessing the importance of human reaction during the economic planning process and put together systems to measure financial markets and their longevity. Fractal Approaches for Modeling Financial Assets and Predicting Crises is a critical scholarly resource that examines the fractal structure and long-term memory of the financial markets in order to predict prices of financial assets and financial crises. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics, such as computational process models, chaos theory, and game theory, this book is geared towards academicians, researchers, and students seeking current research on pricing and predicting financial crises.

Asymmetric information (the fact that borrowers have better information than their lenders) and its theoretical and practical evidence now forms part of the basic tool kit of every financial economist. It is a phenomenon that has major implications for a number of economic and financial issues ranging from both micro and macroeconomic level - corporate debt, investment and dividend policies, the depth and duration of business cycles, the rate of long term economic growth - to the origin of financial and international crises. Asymmetric Information in Financial Markets aims to explain this concept in an accessible way, without jargon and by reducing mathematical complexity. Using elementary algebra and statistics, graphs, and convincing real-world evidence, the author explores the foundations of the problems posed by asymmetries of information in a refreshingly accessible and intuitive way.

This volume connects the evolving modern financial systems of China, Japan, and Korea to the development and growth of their economies through the first decade of the twenty-first century. It also identifies the commonalities among all three systems while accounting for their social, political, and institutional differences. Essays consider the reforms of the Chinese economy since 1978, the underwhelming performance of the Japanese economy since about 1990, and the growth of the Korean economy over the past three decades. These economies engaged in rapid catch-up growth processes and share similar economic structures. Yet while domestic forces have driven each country's financial trajectory, international short-term financial flows have presented opportunities and challenges for them all. The nature and role of the financial system in generating real economic growth, though nuanced and complex, is integral to these countries. The result is a fascinating spectrum of experiences with powerful takeaways.

The global pandemic restrictions, climate change, geopolitical tensions, and new artificial technologies have fundamentally impacted international financial markets and corporate strategy. Traditional finance theories have been questioned and their application to corporate decision-making has come under scrutiny like never before. The third edition of Financial Markets and Corporate Strategy provides students with comprehensive and engaging discussions on the strategic challenges facing companies and their financial decisions. Brought to life by real-world examples, international cases and insights from recent research, it guides students through the challenges of studying and practising finance from both an academic and practical viewpoint. Key Features: · Fully updated research of the most important topics, data and examples in every chapter. · Coverage of the impact of climate change, Brexit, the economic growth of China, and new financial technologies · A stronger emphasis on sustainability, ethics, and corporate governance. · Updates on accounting standards, bankruptcy laws, tax rules and tax systems. David Hillier is Professor of Finance, Executive Dean of Strathclyde Business School, and Associate Principal of the University of Strathclyde. Mark Grinblatt is the J. Clayburn LaForce Professor of Finance at the UCLA Anderson School of Management Sheridan Titman is Professor of Finance at the McCombs School of Business.

Workers' remittances have become a major source of financing for developing countries and are especially important in Latin America and the Caribbean, which is at the top of the ranking of remittance receiving regions in the world. While there has been a recent surge in analytical work on the topic, this book is motivated by the large heterogeneity in migration and remittance patterns across countries and regions, and by the fact that existing evidence for Latin America and the Caribbean is restricted to only a few countries, such as Mexico and El Salvador. Because the nature of the phenomenon varies across countries, its development impact and policy implications are also likely to differ in ways that are still largely unknown. This book helps fill the gap by exploring, in the specific context of Latin America and Caribbean countries, some of the main questions faced by policymakers when trying to respond to increasing remittances flows. The book relies on cross-country panel data and household surveys for 11 Latin American countries to explore the development impact of remittance flows along several dimensions: growth, poverty, inequality, schooling, health, labor supply, financial development, and real exchange rates.