This paper provides an overview of conceptual issues and recent research findings concerning the structure and the role of financial systems and an introduction into the new research area of comparative financial systems. The authors start by pointing out the importance of financial systems in...

We examine the shock of the global crisis on interbank markets in emerging countries and attempt to assess the impact of macroeconomic and financial sector policy announcements on spread changes in six Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. We find that interbank markets in emerging...