This paper investigates the impact of stock markets and banks on economic growth using a panel data set for the period 1976-98 and applying recent GMM techniques developed for dynamic panels. On balance, we find that stock markets and banks positively influence economic growth and these findings are not due to potential biases induced by simultaneity, omitted variables or unobserved country-spe...

Islamic banking is currently one of the fastest growing segments of the financial market industry, operating in over 75 countries through 300 institutions. While past literature has established the development of financial institutions as a determinant of economic growth, research on the correlation of the diffusion of Islamic banking with economic growth is limited. This study seeks to add to ...

Starting from the seminal intuitions that led to the developments of the Economic Order Quantity model and of the formulation of the Dynamic Lot Sizing Problem, inventory models have been widely employed in the academic literature and in corporate practice to solve a wide range of theoretical and real-world problems, as, through simple modifications to the original models, it is possible to acc...

The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank cannot guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not ...

There is a growing consensus that reducing childhood malnutrition is a critically important goal, but there is far less agreement on what strategies can best achieve that goal. Are more nutrition-specific interventions required, such as food and nutrient supplements or training and education programs? Or does the answer lie in broader social developments such as rising incomes, increased food s...

Socio-economic development and adaptation to climate change are closely intertwined. Adaptation is increasingly described as climate resilient development or development under a hostile climate. In support of this view, this paper calculates the combined cost of meeting and at the same time “climate-proofing” the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for Africa. Treating adaptation and developmen...

Although the theory of multinational banking has pointed out the importance of local profit opportunities, the empirical evidence is still poor and deserves further investigation. To this end, we analyse entry decisions and activity levels of foreign banks operating in Italy between 1983 and 1998. We consider 22 OECD countries, 10 of which had at least one bank (branch or subsidiary) in Italy. ...

First, we briefly explore issues of infrastructures of information polity, informatisation of public administration, civic networking, regulation, information inequalities and ‘digital divide.’ Next, we sketch the perspectives of a socially accountable policy for the new ICTs and we conclude with the value of ‘democratic rationalisation.’ It is generally accepted (Dutton, 1996) that the develop...

After financial crises, GDP is typically persistently weak compared to pre-crisis trends. We build a simple competitive general equilibrium model to highlight role that the financial sector may have in boosting GDP to unsustainable, undesirable levels before financial crises. Allowing banks to freely trade in financial securities exacerbates the problem. Because loans generate collateral, banks...

Policy narratives in OECD nations are now starting to stress the importance of ‘innovation’ as a public sector objective. On one level, this reflects efforts to align thinking with a wider discourse on innovation, arguably in an effort not to be left out of the picture. For example, Geoff Mulgan3 has argued persuasively that, contrary to some common assumptions, the public sector has a longer h...