Size matters in banking. In this paper, we explore whether shocks originating at large banks affect the probability of distress of smaller banks and thus the stability of the banking system. Our analysis proceeds in two steps. In a first step, we follow Gabaix [Gabaix, X., 2008a. The Granular...

"Productivity is an essential concept in almost every field related to Economics and Management. As Paul Krugman wrote in \The Age of Diminishing Expectations (1994)" \Productivity isn't everything, but in the long run it is almost everything. A country's ability to improve its standard of...

The economies of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have always been characterized by economic volatility and social disparities. The recent 'Arab Spring' wave of protests has increased political uncertainty and instability in the region, and this timely book provides an in-depth...

Productivity varies widely between industries and countries, but even more so across individual firms within the same sectors. The challenge for governments is to strike the right balance between policies designed to increase overall productivity and policies designed to promote the reallocation...