This paper looks at variation across Russian regions in terms of perceived constraints to doing business using the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey of Russian firms. The analysis identifies a number of region-specific business environment components that businesses perceive...

With two very large mining projects expected to reach full production this decade, Mongolia is entering a commodity boom. History teaches us that commodity revenues offer unique opportunities for development but can also depress long-term economic prospects by increasing macroeconomic...

The paper provides an empirical analysis of the importance of infrastructure for bilateral trade flows using an augmented gravity model of trade. The estimates suggest that potential gains from improvements in infrastructure are large and far exceed the effects of lowering tariff barriers....

The paper provides empirical analysis of the relationship between fiscal decentralisation and the quality of public services in the Russian regions. The analysis suggests that fiscal decentralisation has no significant effect on the key inputs into secondary education, such as schools,...

Commodity resources offer vast opportunities for development. In the long run, however, the performance of commodity-rich countries tends to fall short of expectations, as commodity rents induce macroeconomic volatility and undermine incentives to improve institutions. The paper looks at the...

The paper looks at the effects of employment concentration on resource allocation with a particular focus on one-company towns in Russia: towns where a single company accounts for a significant share of total employment. Empirical analysis of firms’ production functions indicates that firms...

The paper provides an empirical analysis of the early impact of formation of the customs union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia and associated changes in imports schedule on the structure of Kazakhstan’s imports. Trade creation effects appear to have been insignificant. At the same time the...

This paper studies the determinants and consequences of equity ownership in multinational affiliates. We construct a multi-period model of foreign direct investment with incomplete contracts and uncertainty to analyse the size of equity stakes. The productivity of a multinational parent and its...

We use a growth diagnostic approach to analyse the main impediments to investment and growth in Serbia. We look at a wide set of quantitative and qualitative indicators to understand if businesses are constrained by access to finance or if they forgo investment opportunities because they cannot...

The paper studies the extent of corporate leverage and range of excessive debt of Slovenian firms during the recent financial crisis. Half of all firms (of those with some non-zero debt and at least one employee) are found to face an unsustainable debt-to-EBITDA leverage ratio beyond 4,...