The Determinants of Financing Obstacles
Author:
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Published: 2004
Total Pages: 36
ISBN-13:
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How important are financing constraints? : the role of finance in the business environment
Author: Meghana Ayyagari
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Published: 2006
Total Pages: 59
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWhat role does the business environment play in promoting and restraining firm growth? Recent literature points to a number of factors as obstacles to growth. Inefficient functioning of financial markets, inadequate security and enforcement of property rights, poor provision of infrastructure, inefficient regulation and taxation, and broader governance features such as corruption and macroeconomic stability are discussed without any comparative evidence on their ordering. In this paper, the authors use firm level survey data to present evidence on the relative importance of different features of the business environment. They find that although firms report many obstacles to growth, not all the obstacles are equally constraining. Some affect firm growth only indirectly through their influence on other obstacles, or not at all. Using Directed Acyclic Graph methodology as well as regressions, the authors find that only obstacles related to finance, crime, and political instability directly affect the growth rate of firms. Robustness tests further show that the finance result is the most robust of the three. These results have important policy implications for the priority of reform efforts. They show that maintaining political stability, keeping crime under control, and undertaking financial sector reforms to relax financing constraints are likely to be the most effective routes to promote firm growth.
Matarenda/Talents in Zimbabwean Pentecostalism
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Published: 2021-03-15
Total Pages: 244
ISBN-13: 9004446672
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn Matarenda/Talents in Zimbabwean Pentecostalism, the contributors reflect on how Pentecostalism contributes to the empowerment of marginalised societies, empowers women through the matarenda practices, and contributes to the development of wider society.
Communities in Action
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Published: 2017-04-27
Total Pages: 583
ISBN-13: 0309452961
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.
The Determinants of Financing Obstacles
Author: Thorsten Beck
Publisher:
Published: 2013
Total Pages:
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe authors use survey data on a sample of over 10,000 firms from 80 countries to assess (1) how successful a priori classifications are in distinguishing between financially constrained and unconstrained firms, and (2) more generally, the determinants of financing obstacles of firms. They find that older, larger, and foreign-owned firms report less financing obstacles. Their findings thus confirm the usefulness of size, age, and ownership as a priori classifications of financing constraints, while they shed doubts on other classifications used in the literature. Their results also suggest that institutional development is the most important country characteristic explaining cross-country variation in firms' financing obstacles.
Identifying Binding Constraints to Growth
Author: Mr.Mauricio Vargas
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Published: 2015-01-14
Total Pages: 48
ISBN-13: 1498365051
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAs emphasized by Hausmann, Rodrik and Velasco, the policy challenge of boosting growth requires prioritization and identifying what are the most binding constraints. This paper draws on firm-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey, which suggests that the obstacles for the functioning of firms is related to firm size. Recognizing the potential endogeneity and simultaneity between firms' constraints and firm size, we implement an Ordered-Probit model with a potential categorical endogenous regressor to estimate, for the case of Bolivia, the conditional probability of facing obstacles given the firm size category, while controlling for other factors. The results confirm the importance of allowing for the roles of firm size in identifying constraints and suggest priorities for policies to remove constraints to economic performance.
Trade Credit and Bank Credit
Author: Inessa Love
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Published: 2005
Total Pages: 34
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"The authors study the effect of financial crises on trade credit in a sample of 890 firms in six emerging economies. They find that although provision of trade credit increases right after the crisis, it consequently collapses in the following months and years. The authors observe that firms with weaker financial position (for example, high pre-crisis level of short-term debt and low cash stocks and cash flows) are more likely to reduce trade credit provided to their customers. This suggests that the decline in aggregate credit provision is driven by the reduction in the supply of trade credit, which follows the bank credit crunch. The results are consistent with the "redistribution view" of trade credit provision, in which bank credit is redistributed by way of trade credit by the firms with stronger financial position to the firms with weaker financial stand "--World Bank web site.
Powering the Digital Economy: Opportunities and Risks of Artificial Intelligence in Finance
Author: El Bachir Boukherouaa
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Published: 2021-10-22
Total Pages: 35
ISBN-13: 1589063953
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis paper discusses the impact of the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in the financial sector. It highlights the benefits these technologies bring in terms of financial deepening and efficiency, while raising concerns about its potential in widening the digital divide between advanced and developing economies. The paper advances the discussion on the impact of this technology by distilling and categorizing the unique risks that it could pose to the integrity and stability of the financial system, policy challenges, and potential regulatory approaches. The evolving nature of this technology and its application in finance means that the full extent of its strengths and weaknesses is yet to be fully understood. Given the risk of unexpected pitfalls, countries will need to strengthen prudential oversight.
The Global Findex Database 2017
Author: Asli Demirguc-Kunt
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Published: 2018-04-19
Total Pages: 228
ISBN-13: 1464812683
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.
Financial Inclusion: What Have We Learned So Far? What Do We Have to Learn?
Author: Adolfo Barajas
Publisher:
Published: 2020-08-07
Total Pages: 51
ISBN-13: 9781513553009
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe past two decades have seen a rapid increase in interest in financial inclusion, both from policymakers and researchers. This paper surveys the main findings from the literature, documenting the trends over time and gaps that have arisen across regions, income levels, and gender, among others. It points out that structural, as well as policy-related, factors, such as encouraging banking competition or channeling government payments through bank accounts, play an important role, and describes the potential macro and microeconomic benefits that can be derived from greater financial inclusion. It argues that policy should aim to identify and reduce frictions holding back financial inclusion, rather than targeting specific levels of inclusion. Finally, it suggests areas for future research.
