Using firm level panel data from twelve developing countries we explore if financial liberalization improves the efficiency with which investment funds are allocated. A summary index of the efficiency of investment allocation that measures whether investment funds are going to firms with a...

Has financial liberalization improved the efficiency with which investment funds are allocated to competing uses? In this paper, we address this question, using firm level panel data from twelve developing countries. The basic idea is to investigate whether financial liberalization has increased...

Using a large panel of Ecuadorian firms, this paper analyzes the role of capital market imperfections for investment decisions, and investigates whether the financial reforms introduced in the 80’s have succeeded in relaxing financial constraints. The model allows both for an increase cost of...

In this paper we investigate whether financial liberalization improves the efficiency with which investment funds are allocated. We develop a simple measure of efficiency and apply it to firm level panel data for Indonesia and Ecuador. We find evidence that financial liberalization has indeed...

This paper summarizes and discusses new evidence on the nature, extent, evolution and consequences of financing constraints in Latin America. The countries covered are: Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, and Uruguay. All the new contributions share the characteristics of being...

We prove that in a closed economy without distortionary taxation, the welfare of a representativeconsumer is summarized to a …rst order by the current and expected future values of the Solowproductivity residual in level and by the initial endowment of capital. The equivalence holds if...

We study whether cultural attitudes towards gender, the young, and leisure are signi…cantdeterminants of the evolution over time of the employment rates of women and of the young, andof hours worked in OECD countries. Beyond controlling for a larger menu of policies, institutionsand structural...

The objective of this paper is to investigate if and how capital adjustment departs from the smooth pattern implied by standard model based on convex adjustment costs. Using Norwegian micro data, we start by documenting various aspects of the distribution of investment rates. We then present two...

This paper evaluates the effects of fiscal policy on investment using a panel of OECD countries. In particular, we investigate how different types of fiscal policy affect profits and , as a result, investment. We find a sizable negative effect of public spending -- and in particular of its...