In this paper, we explore the relationship between firm growth, access to finance, and the efficiency of capital allocation in Viet Nam over the period 2005-2015. Using data from the UNU-WIDER Viet Nam SME survey, we test whether firms with higher marginal returns to capital are more or less...

Expanding access to financial services holds the promise to help reduce poverty and spur economic development. But, as a practical matter, commercial banks have faced challenges expanding access to poor and low-income households in developing economies, and nonprofits have had limited reach. We...

The paper is a follow-up to an article published in Technique Financière et Developpement in 2000 (see the appendix to the hardcopy version), which portrayed the first results of a new strategy in the field of development finance implemented in South-East Europe. This strategy consists in...

The constraint on informal finance is commonly taken to be high costs and limited supply. But the majority of informal investors - family and friends - is often willing to supply funds at negative returns, and yet many borrowers tap family and friends only as a last resort. We explain this...

The perceptions of informal finance have undergone significant changes. Historically, informal finance was characterised as highly exploitative. This paradigm has changed owing to a better understanding of informal finance, the changes that have occurred in rural financial markets, economic...

We examine the relation between financing patterns and firm growth in transition economies. Using a survey dataset covering over 20,000 firms in 30 Eastern European and Central Asian countries from 2002-2014, we find that firms using formal bank finance grow faster than those financed by...

The existing literature suggests that economic institutions determine the allocation of resources for economic growth. As an important counterexample, although China has one of the world's fastest-growing economies, its legal and financial systems are underdeveloped. With evidence from China,...

The existing literature suggests that economic institutions determine the allocation of resources for economic growth. As an important counterexample, although China has one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, its legal and financial systems are underdeveloped. With evidence from China,...

This paper analyzed the relationship between firm characteristics and credit constraints among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines. In particular, we determined whether an SME's firm characteristics are correlated to the predicted probability of being credit-constrained or...

Die Studie untersucht die Potenziale von Fintechs für kleine und mittlere Unternehmen (KMU). Fintechs bringen Kapitalangebot und -nachfrage oftmals effizienter zusammen als Banken. Ihre Lösungen können in Einzelfällen Finanzierungsgeschwindigkeiten beschleunigen, Kreditkonditionen verbessern...