The importance of financial market reforms in combating corruption has been highlighted in the theoretical literature but has not been systemically tested empirically. In this study we provide a first pass at testing this relationship using both linear and non-monotonic forms of the relationship...

Recent theoretical developments and case study evidence suggests a relationship between the military in politics and corruption. This study contributes to this literature by analyzing theoretically and empirically the role of the military in politics and corruption for the first time. By drawing...

Government-owned development banks have often been justified by the need to respond to financial market imperfections that hinder the establishment and growth of promising businesses, and as a result, stifle economic development more generally. However, evidence on the effectiveness of these...

Financial constraints affect firms’ financial and productive decisions generating substantial macroeconomic implications in terms of investment, economic growth, inflation and income distribution. Despite its relevance, financial constraints are not directly observable. However, empirically...

Between 2000 and 2013, Latin America has considerably reduced poverty (from 46.3% to 29.7% of the population). In this paper, we use synthetic panels to show that, despite progress, the region remains characterized by substantial vulnerability that also affects the rising middle-class. More...

This paper analyzes the relation between export composition and economic growth. Based on the structure developed by Feder (1983) and Crespo-Cuaresma and Wörz (2005), we develop a panel data model involving Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, member countries of the Andean Community...

This paper analyzes the dynamics of the distributions of per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the infant mortality rate, and the adult literacy rate across states in Mexico between 1994 and 2000. It analyzes the hypothesis of convergence to a common l

Between 2000 and 2013, Latin America has considerably reduced poverty (from 46.3% to 29.7% of the population). In this paper, we use synthetic panels to show that, despite progress, the region remains characterized by substantial vulnerability that also affects the rising middle-class. More...

A number of recent papers study the impact of institutions, trade and geography known as “deep determinants” of economic development using cross-section data. This paper instead employs a panel data approach to examine the impact of these three determinants on per capita income. Our approach...

This research is aimed at assessing the impact of the stock market capitalization and the banking spread in per capita economic growth (as a proxy of economic development) in the major Latin American economies during the period 1994-2012. To do this, a panel data model is estimated with both...