Drawing on the new institutional economics, the author's study of Brazil's machine tool industry extends an earlier study of the garment industry in two ways. First, it broadens the original study to a second industry, which could either confirm or amend the original conclusions. Second, it...

The authors surveyed 41 firms in and around Moscow in the last two weeks of November 1992 to get an empirical handle on how firms are responding to the changing economic environment. They found the following conclusions. There were large negative (supply and demand) shocks to output for a...

Enterprise reform in China since 1979 has been supported by accelerated reform of China's legal framework. In the transition to a"socialist market economy", state enterprises will operate independently of the government, may no longer be fully owned or controlled by the state, and will deal with...

Drawing on the new institutional economics, the authors examine the impact on businesses of Brazil's relatively complex, nontransparent legal and regulatory institutions and compare their costs with those of Chile's institutions, which are relatively simple. They examine four basic areas where...

Private sector assessments provide information and analysis essential to formulating strategies for alleviating constraints on private sector development. They are meant to contribute both to the Bank's policy dialogue with borrowing governments and to the formulation of country assistance...

Banking systems in many countries have become increasingly unstable in recent years. At the same time, market forces have pushed banks to expand into a variety of universal banking activities without impairing the stability of the banking system. The basic bank holding company proposal contains...

The purpose of this paper is to report the results of micro-level field research conducted in late 1989 and early 1990 of constraints confronting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Sri Lanka and Tanzania, and to analyze the implications of these results for reforms to promote the development...

Between 1983 and 1984, 15 Thai finance companies went under, and many others were distressed. Authorities were faced with the choice of rescuing the troubled institutions or closing them down. Closing an institution is often less costly, financially, than rescuing it. The risk in closing...

Venture capital is a temporary-equity or quasi-equity investment in a growth-oriented, usually small or medium-size business managed by a highly motivated entrepreneur. Management assistance often comes with the investment. For the investment, the investor expects either a minority share in the...