Why do firms and banks hold foreign currency denominated liabilities? In this paper, we argue that foreign currency debt, by altering the effect of a devaluation on output, has a disciplining effect when the Central Bank’s objectives differ from the social optimum. However, under imperfect information, bad priors about the Central Bank induce excess dollarization of liabilities, which in turn l...

Agriculture & Rural Development Working Papers is an informal series produced by the Agriculture & Rural Development Department of the World Bank. These papers raise concepts and issues for discussion in the broader development community and describe ongoing research and/or implementation experiences from the Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions are the author's own and should n...

We exploit the introduction and removal of a nation-wide bank branch licensing rule which sought to increase and equalize bank branch presence across Indian states to estimate the e¤ect of rural bank openings on poverty. Between 1977 and 1990, to qualify for a license to open a branch in a census location which already had one or more bank branches an Indian bank had to open four branches in lo...

This study examines the determinants of bank profitability in China over the period 2003-2009. The determinants are divided into three groups: bank-specific, industryspecific and macroeconomic variables. The two-step General Method of Moments (GMM) system estimator is used. The results show that there is a positive relationship between bank profitability, cost efficiency, banking sector develop...

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