This paper uses recent data on a large cross-section of countries to study the determinants of corrupt activity. The main contribution is to examine the effects of different types and severities of government regulations on corrupt activities. The results show that greater prosperity and...

We find empirical evidence that the Chinese banking system has benefited from the entry of foreign investors through higher profitability and increased efficiency of the banking system. Foreign participation, which consists of a minority stake in a Chinese bank (in con-trast to the typical...

Modern banking institutions were virtually non-existent in the planned economies of cen-tral Europe and the former Soviet Union. In the early transition period, banking sectors began to develop during several years of macroeconomic decline and turbulence accompa-nied by repeated bank crises....

The paper presents a study of Russian banks' interest rates on household deposits during the formation period of the deposit insurance system. It is shown that market discipline weakened after deposit insurance was effectively in place.

This paper tests whether corruption may act as an efficient grease for the wheels of an otherwise deficient institutional framework. We analyze the interaction between aggregate efficiency, corruption, and other dimensions of governance for a panel of 54 developed and developing countries. Using...

The Russian banking sector has experienced enormous growth rates during the last 6-7 years. The rapid growth of assets has, however, contributed to a decrease in the capital adequacy ratio, thus influencing the ability of banks to cope with risk. Using quarterly data spanning from 1999 to 2007...

We use business survey data collected by the People's Bank of China for inflation forecast-ing. Some survey indicators lead to enhanced forecasting performance relative to the uni-variate benchmark model, especially for a period of moderate inflation. However, the esti-mated models do not do a...

The objective of the paper is to study Russia's pattern of specialisation in the manufactures trade since 1998. Russia's global trade balance for manufactures is rapidly deteriorating. However, the trade pattern in manufactures should be differentiated according to Russia's main trading...

Transition economies like Russia lack properly functioning financial markets and institu-tions, which results in severe agency and information problems. Business groups in such markets have the potential to offer benefits to member firms, but they also may destroy value. Using a unique database...

This paper estimates export and import price equations for 41 countries -including 28 emerging market economies. Further, it relates the estimated elasticities to structural fac-tors and tests for statistical breaks in the relation between trade prices and exchange rates. Results indicate that...