The paper develops a simple model to demonstrate that, paradoxically, greater competition may exacerbate the problem of corruption. Market participants engaging in corrupt practices enjoy lower production costs-maybe because they pay a bribe to avoid installing the environmental safeguards...

A frequent charge in foreign exchange markets in developing countries is that of manipulators being at work. Since to buy is to raise prices and to sell is to lower prices, the question that naturally arises is whether the widespread charge of market manipulation is valid. The paper shows that...

This paper analyzes the evolution of sovereign credit ratings in the wake of the global financial crisis by studying changes in actual, shadow, and relative ratings between 2008 and 2012. For countries that do not have a rating from the major rating agencies, shadow ratings are estimated as a...