This paper evaluates (1) whether the exogenous component of "nancial intermediary development in#uences economic growth and (2) whether cross-country di!erences in legal and accounting systems (e.g., creditor rights, contract enforcement, and accounting standards) explain di!erences in the level of "nancial development. Using both traditional cross-section, instrumental variable procedures and ...

We provide empirical evidence that Rwandans use the mobile phone network to transfer airtime to those affected by unexpected shocks. Using an extensive dataset on mobile phone activity in Rwanda and exploiting the quasi-random timing and location of natural disasters, we show that individuals make transfers and calls to people affected by disasters. The magnitude of these transfers is small in ...

This paper develops a theory of investment and maturity choices and studies its implications for the macroeconomy. The novel ingredient is an explicit secondary market with trading frictions which leads to a liquidity spread which increases with maturity and generates an upward sloping yield curve. As a result, trading frictions induce firms to borrow and invest at shorter horizons than in a fr...

We study how social networks change as a result of an exogenous expansion in formal financial access and show how to estimate the effects of these changes on household outcomes. We use a unique household panel dataset that contains detailed information on the network of informal financial transactions before and after a field experiment that randomized access to savings accounts in Nepal. First...

This paper uses household data to test whether microfinance institutions created by the Malawian government in the mid-1990s under its Poverty Alleviation Programme crowded out access to informal loans. As in several recent studies, the paper adopts policy evaluation techniques to identify a causal relationship between access to government-sponsored credit programmes and informal loans. After t...

This paper provides compelling evidence that equity market liberalization, as the most efficient way to smooth financial market frictions such as credit constraints, can alleviate persistent cross-dynastic income inequality by promoting increased human capital accumulation. The authors examine the effect of equity market liberalization on inequality by using data from 72 countries for 1980–2006...

Micro…nance is typically associated with joint liability of group members. However, a large part of micro…nance institutions rather o¤ers individual instead of group loans. We analyze the incentive mechanisms in both individual and group contracts. Moreover, we show that micro…nance institutions o¤er group loans when the loan size is rather large, re…nancing costs are high, and competition betw...

I compare welfare generated by a credit contract with individual liability and a contract with joint liability. The problem is credit rationing caused by limited liability and unobservable investment decisions. Joint liability induces borrowers to monitor each other, however the lender can also monitor. I show that wealthier borrowers may prefer riskier investments when liability is joint, whic...

Chemical cross-linking followed by identification of the cross-linked residues by mass spectrometry provides structural information on protein interaction surfaces. Nevertheless, accurate analysis of the digested, cross-linked proteins is often challenging. Herein, we describe a novel strategy that relies on the use of affinity-tagged cross-linkers and isotope coding on the cross-linker-modifie...

In nascent markets with relatively immature institutions, do depositors have the capacity to discipline banks with poor fundamentals? If so, what information specifically guides their response? Using a database from post-communist, pre-deposit-insurance Russia, we present evidence for quantity-based sanctioning of weaker banks by both firms and households, particularly after the 1998 financial ...