This study provides new evidence on the role of financial development and stock market development in accounting for economic growth across geographic regions and income groups. To derive feasible policy implications, we estimate not only unbalanced panel regressions with period fixed effects,...

This study provides evidence on the role of financial development in accounting for economic growth in low- and middle-income countries classified by geographic regions. To document the relationship between financial development and economic growth, we estimate both panel regressions and...

This study analyses the impact of financial sector reforms from the early 1990s on promoting economic growth in Morocco. To derive feasible policy implications, we estimate not only pooled regressions, but also variance decompositions of GDP growth rates to examine what proxy measures of...

This paper examines the efficiency of New Zealand's stock market by assessing the prevalence of thin trading, non-linearity and information asymmetry. We find that the efficiency of this emerging market has been enhanced over time due to regulatory changes and the transition of the New Zealand...

Despite recent extreme fluctuations of Middle East and North African (MENA) stock markets, we do not find strong evidence of rational speculative bubbles from the perspective of both domestic and U.S-based investors. Fractional integration tests built on ARFIMA models do not support the...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the existence of rational speculative bubbles in the Middle East and North African (MENA) stock markets. Design/methodology/approach – To complement shortcomings of the traditional bubble tests, such as unit root tests and cointegration...

We investigate financial integration of MENA region to facilitate a more in-depth exploration of the structure of interdependence and transmission mechanism of stock returns and volatility between MENA and world stock markets. The EGARCH-M models with a generalized error distribution are...

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the impact of financial liberalization and foreign Islamic bank entry on the performance of domestic Islamic banks, and credit availability to the private sector. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use the weighted least squares method to estimate...

This paper investigates the dynamic and the determinants of banking industry efficiency in Latin America. Allocative, technical, pure technical and scale efficiencies are calculated and analyzed in each country. We find that Latin American bank managers have been using resources efficiently, but...

This paper investigates technical and scales efficiencies of microfinance institutions (MFI) in three regions: Latin America countries, Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries, and South Asia countries, and compares efficiencies across regions and across type of MFIs. We find that...