The relationships among competition in the financial sector, access of firms to external financing, and associated economic growth are ambiguous in theory. Moreover, measuring competition in the financial sector can be complex. In this paper Claessens and Laeven first estimate for 16 countries a...

The relationships among competition in the financial sector, access of firms to external financing, and associated economic growth are ambiguous in theory. Moreover, measuring competition in the financial sector can be complex. In this paper the authors first estimate for 16 countries a measure...

Much attention has been given to whether market reforms reduce or increase inequality. Inequality often reflects unequal access to productive opportunities and recent evidence has highlighted the presence of onerous barriers to entry, especially in developing countries. This paper focuses on the...