This paper charts key aspects of the expansion of Russia's banking systems following the deep financial and currency crisis of 1998. It puts the growth of Russian banks into the context of the expansion of the financial system, and studies the impact of key regulatory reforms. The role of bank...

The papers in the present SUERF Study is a selection of the papers presented at a SUERF Workshop and Special OeNB East Jour Fixe held at Oesterreichische Nationalbank in Vienna on 23 January 2009. In his opening remarks (chapter 2), Ewald Nowotny, Governor of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank...

Based on U.S. data, the returns on foreign direct investment in emerging markets are shown to be substantially higher than would be suggested by official balance of payments statistics. This paper identifies the determinants of FDI profitability in 43 industrialized and developing countries....

We assess the current barriers to trade in financial services in the six Central American countries seeking a free trade agreement with the United States (the CAFTA) and examine the relative merits of regional and multilateral liberalization. Even though there are few formal barriers,...

This paper reviews the characteristics of international trade in services and of the World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) framework, which was established to regulate it. Further liberalization of services trade in developing countries, as currently...

Based on industry-level data for majority-owned U.S. foreign affiliates in 49 countries, this paper identifies the determinants of the cross-country distribution of fixed capital within multinational companies. Controlling for market size and trade openness, it is shown that U.S.-owned capital...

This paper develops a simple real options model that demonstrates the role of country-specific risk and sunk costs in determining a multinational’s choice between exports and foreign investment. The hypotheses from the model are tested for the distribution of capital expenditures by U.S.-owned...

Income earned by the branches and subsidiaries of multinational firms can be either reinvested in the host country or repatriated as dividends to the firms' headquarters. Despite the rapid growth of foreign direct investment in the 1990s, there has been relatively limited analysis of the...

Based on industry-level data for majority-owned U.S. foreign affiliates in 49 countries, this paper identifies the determinants of the cross-country distribution of fixed capital within multinational companies. Controlling for market size and trade openness, it is shown that U.S.-owned capital...