The purpose of this work is to provide a comprehensive overview of the state of banking system in Russia, and to understand its core dependencies and potential risks. The system, the way we find it now, has evolved though difficult transition from highly centralized and planned Soviet economy to...

The private equity business, a good complement to the public equity market and the debt market, has been playing an increasing role in China. However, there is no universal formula for doing this business. As an art rather than a science, it varies from country to country. After two decades of...

Modem capitalist societies depend on entrepreneurship for their progress. Entrepreneurs seek profits by introducing new goods, services, and technologies and, in doing so, they advance the economic welfare of society. To maintain and further entrepreneurial activities, each society requires a...

Over the last few decades, we have seen an enormous evolution in the financial services industry driven by technology innovations. Indeed, we cannot imagine the current financial system without electronic fund transfers, ATMs, and Internet banking among many other innovative implementations. In...

One of the keys to building a solid economy is the existence of a long term debt market. Long term borrowing is crucial for personal home ownership, the creation of critical infrastructure, and the development of major real estate projects. Most emerging market economies do not have a long term...

The Korean life insurance industry has rapidly grown over the past decades. The CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) of asset from 1978 to 2008 is 22.8%. As the asset size increases very fast, risk management plays a vital role in the Korean life insurance industry. Before the financial crisis...

The idea that massive natural resource endowments would lead countries to weak economic growth and development is counterintuitive. Oil, gas, copper, gold or other resource riches should, at least in theory, spearhead countries with such natural wealth to growth that parallels...

This dissertation is composed of three essays. I look at the role of two different but critical factors in shaping entrepreneurial outcomes: individual level career history and the institutional context. My work spans two outcomes in particular: individual decisions to choose high-tech...

This thesis consists of three essays in financial economics. Chapter 1 is entitled "Inside Debt." Existing theories advocate the use of cash and equity in executive compensation. However, recent empirical studies have documented the prevalence of debt-like instruments such as pensions. This...

The world-wide consolidation in the electronic trading industry has provided evidence that small exchanges and trading portals need to deliver more than sophisticated technology, streaming quotes and market data. In order to deliver value and survive, they need to provide liquidity. Noteworthy...