In an emerging literature, informal institutions or culture has been defined based on four important traits - TRUST, RESPECT, CONTROL and OBEDIENCE. This paper investigates the question - do informal institutions defined by these traits enhance women's political, social and economic rights? The...

Financial development is definitely a determinant of the extent of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow into an economy. Yet, the contribution of financial development (FD) can be dependent on the political situation of the recipient nation. Higher political stability aids financial...

Previous literature has talked extensively about the relationship between a free (independent) press and corruption. A free press ameliorates corruption levels in a country by acting as a watchdog and making the government more transparent and accountable to the masses. Another strand of...

Using a panel of 138 countries over 1994-2005 we identify a channel through which a media free from government control promotes domestic investment. We hypothesize that a free media may enhance socio-political stability creating a favorable investment climate that attracts investment. A...

This paper presents an interesting analysis of the role of financial development in boosting domestic investment of a country. The findings of the paper show that the responsiveness of investment to developments in the financial sector is conditional on the investment climate already in place....

The paper investigates the missing link in the literature – whether informal institutions, or what is known as culture, can affect the level of financial development for a country? Our hypothesis stresses that the cultural dimensions of a country can have an impact on its financial set up. We...

Using a panel of 138 countries over 1994-2005 we identify a channel through which a media free from government control promotes domestic investment. We hypothesize that as media becomes freer socio-political stability is enhanced due to the creation of a favorable business climate that attracts...

This paper empirically assesses the relationship between culture and a free press. The results reveal that a privatized or ‘free media' strongly influences informal institutions of a country or what is commonly known as culture. By providing unbiased and a wide variety information to the...