"This paper reviews, appraises, and critiques theoretical and empirical research on the connections between the operation of the financial system and economic growth. While subject to ample qualifications and countervailing views, the preponderance of evidence suggests that both financial intermediaries and markets matter for growth and that reverse causality alone is not driving this relationship. Furthermore, theory and evidence imply that better developed financial systems ease external financing constraints facing firms, which illuminates one mechanism through which financial development influences economic growth. The paper highlights many areas needing additional research"--NBER website

Rapid economic development has been a boon to human well-being, but comes at a significant cost to the fertile soils, forests, coastal marshes, and farmland that support all life on earth. If ecosystems collapse, so eventually will human civilization. One solution is inclusive green growth--the efficient use of natural resources. Its genius lies in working with nature rather than against it. Green Growth That Works is the first practical guide to bring together pragmatic finance and policy tools that can make investment in natural capital both attractive and commonplace. Pioneered by leading scholars from the Natural Capital Project, this valuable compendium of proven techniques can guide agencies and organizations eager to make green growth work anywhere in the world.

"The authors examine whether financial development boosts the growth of small firms more than large firms and hence provides information on the mechanisms through which financial development fosters aggregate economic growth. They define an industry's technological firm size as the firm size implied by industrial specific production technologies, including capital intensities and scale economies. Using cross-industry, cross-country data, the results indicate that financial development exerts a disproportionately large effect on the growth of industries that are technologically more dependent on small firms. This suggests that financial development accelerates economic growth by removing growth constraints on small firms and also implies that financial development has sectoral as well as aggregate growth ramifications. This paper--a product of the Finance Group, Development Research Group--is part of a larger effort in the group to understand the growth finance link"--World Bank web site.

During the 1990s, countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region regained access to external finance from international capital markets for the development of their economies. However, the volatility of these sources of finance and the region's pro-cyclical macroeconomic policies have been reflected in unusually frequent financial crises and unstable economic growth. This publication proposes a strategy for growth for the region, based on three key aspects of promoting stability of international capital flows for development financing; trade linkages and access to external capital; and promoting national capital resources by boosting public and private saving and investment.

This is a comprehensive and unique survey of how the relationship between finance and economic development has changed since the historic Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development in 2002. It has become clear that mechanisms are needed to ensure that international private capital flows, including FDI, enhance productive investments and thereby contribute to development. Recent trends in official development financing offer some grounds for optimism, although many developing countries are constrained by their the external debt problems, and this book will play a key role in critically assessing recent policies and proposing constructive ways forward. The final part on systemic issues highlights new concerns and the modest progress so far.