While there is a growing debate among researchers and practitioners on the possible role of central banks and financial regulators in supporting a smooth transition to a low-carbon economy, the ...information on which macroprudential instruments could be used for reaching the “green structural change” is still quite limited. Moreover, the achievement of climate goals is still affected by the so-called “green finance gap”. This paper addresses these issues by proposing a critical review of existing and novel prudential approaches to incentivizing the decarbonization of banks' balance sheets and aligning finance with sustainable growth and development objectives. The analysis carried out in the paper allows understanding of under which conditions macroprudential policy could tackle climate change and promote green lending, while also containing climate-related financial risks.
•Emerging economies are active adopters of mandatory green prudential instruments.•Several policy proposals currently discussed in advanced economies are prone to destabilizing effects.•A “one-size-fits-all” approach to greening the financial system does not exist.•Most promising green instruments are related to (bank) capital management.•Negative Capital Buffers and/or buffers built during the carbon-intensive credit cycle could be favorable too.
While the literature has studied various factors affecting green productivity growth, there is a relative dearth of empirical studies quantitatively analyzing the linkage between green finance ...development and green productivity. Based on a comprehensive index of green finance development, this research thus employs panel data of 30 China's provinces for the period 2006–2018 to explore the influence of green finance on green total factor productivity, revealing estimation results that green finance development significantly improves the level of green productivity. This beneficial effect tends to be stronger in provinces with higher levels of economic and social conditions, less public participation in environmental protection, and high pollution levels. We also find that implementing a green finance policy can further enhance the impact of green finance development. The empirical results herein offer policy implications to China's green finance planning and environmental policy.
•Assess the impact of green finance on green total factor productivity.•Green finance development is measured by a multidimensional index system.•Green finance development significantly improves the level of green productivity.•Effects are stronger with high economic, social, and environmental conditions.•Green finance policy can further enhance the impact of green finance development.
•New data set on Islamic MFIs.•Islamic microfinance more important than previously recognized.•Outreach of Islamic MFIs exceeds that of conventional MFIs.•Conventional MFIs show stronger financial ...performance.
Conventional microfinance institutions (MFIs) can promote financial inclusion, but they also prompt ethical concerns regarding the social consequences of commercialization and high interest rates. Islamic MFIs, which adhere to Sharia’s prohibition of riba (usually interpreted as a ban on interest), present an alternative. Differences between conventional and Islamic MFIs in terms of outreach and financial sustainability remain underexplored; no comprehensive data set details Islamic MFIs either. With new data, collected with a global survey, the authors construct a unique panel of 543 conventional and 101 Islamic MFIs, operating in Islamic and non-Islamic countries. These data suggest that the market for Islamic microfinance is more important than previously recognized, has grown in recent years, and is likely to continue growing in every region of the world. Statistical comparisons, using various estimation techniques, regarding the outreach and financial performance of Islamic and conventional MFIs also reveal that the breadth and depth of Islamic MFIs exceed those of conventional MFIs, though conventional MFIs achieve stronger financial performance. This latter result is not robust though.
This paper reports results from the randomized evaluation of a group-lending microcredit program in Hyderabad, India. A lender worked in 52 randomly selected neighborhoods, leading to an 8.4 ...percentage point increase in takeup of microcredit. Small business investment and profits of preexisting businesses increased, but consumption did not significantly increase. Durable goods expenditure increased, while "temptation goods'' expenditure declined. We found no significant changes in health, education, or women's empowerment. Two years later, after control areas had gained access to microcredit but households in treatment area had borrowed for longer and in larger amounts, very few significant differences persist.
The recent financial crisis proved that pre-existing arrangements for the governance of global markets were flawed. With reform underway in the USA, the EU and elsewhere, Emilios Avgouleas explores ...some of the questions associated with building an effective governance system and analyses the evolution of existing structures. By critiquing the soft law structures dominating international financial regulation and examining the roles of financial innovation and the neo-liberal policies in the expansion of global financial markets, he offers a new epistemological reading of the causes of the global financial crisis. Requisite reforms leave serious gaps in cross-border supervision, in the resolution of global financial institutions and in the monitoring of risk originating in the shadow banking sector. To close these gaps and safeguard the stability of the international financial system, an evolutionary governance system is proposed that will also enhance the welfare role of global financial markets.
Financial capitalism emerged in a recognisably modern form in late seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Great Britain. Following the seminal work of Douglass C. North and Barry R. Weingast (1989), ...many scholars have concluded that the 'credible commitment' that was provided by parliamentary backing of government as a result of the Glorious Revolution of 1688 provided the key institutional underpinning on which modern public finances depend. In this book, a specially commissioned group of historians and economists examine and challenge the North and Weingast thesis to show that multiple commitment mechanisms were necessary to convince public creditors that sovereign debt constituted a relatively accessible, safe and liquid investment vehicle. Questioning Credible Commitment provides academics and practitioners with a broader understanding of the origins of financial capitalism, and, with its focus on theoretical and policy frameworks, shows the significance of the debate to current macroeconomic policy making.
The rapid development of Internet finance has certainly affected the operation of commercial banks. This paper investigates the impact of Internet finance on commercial banks. First, a theoretical ...influence mechanism of Internet finance on commercial banks is explored, and the Internet finance index and integrated performance index of commercial banks are constructed using factor analysis. Then, a static panel and a dynamic panel model are established to empirically examine the impact of Internet finance on the profitability, security, liquidity and growth as well as the comprehensive business performance of commercial banks. Finally, the heterogenous impacts of Internet finance on city commercial banks, joint-stock banks and state-owned commercial banks are discussed. The results show that the development of Internet finance has a positive impact on the profitability, security and growth of commercial banks, and has a negative impact on the liquidity of commercial banks. In addition, Internet finance has promoted the improvement of the comprehensive business performance of commercial banks. Moreover, the impact of Internet finance on different types of commercial banks is heterogeneous with the impact on state-owned commercial banks being the weakest and the impact on city commercial banks is the most significant.
•This paper aims to theoretically and empirically investigate the impact of Internet finance on commercial banks in China.•Constructing an Internet finance index based on search engine Baidu's search index.•Designing indexes from five aspects to trace the characteristics of commercial banks.•Carrying out empirical analysis which explores the impact of Internet finance on commercial banks.•Discussing the heterogeneity of commercial banks with different natures.
This Cypriot EPPO/OLAF volume deals with the link between national law and EU law (EPPO and OLAF Regulations) and enables professionals from the justice sector to understand the national law in ...comparative perspective and to plan further investigations. It refers to fraud cases, the link between OLAF and AFCOS, and the activities of the new EPPO regional offices.The Cypriot Act for the Implementation of the EPPO and the rules for defence lawyers in EPPO cases involving tax, subsidy, and customs fraud are also discussed. Attorney Dr Marilena Katsogiannou's introductory chapter to the Compendium on Cyprus provides a thorough summary of both Union and Cypriot laws in relation to EU fraud offences. While this volume is written in English, its footnotes reproduce the original national legislation in the local language.
Let us introduce you to some of the people who are helping to make a difference and improve lives across sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, the Pacific and the Overseas Countries and Territories. We ...speak to a greengrocer in Burkina Faso, look at new climate-resilient social housing in the Dominican Republic and find out how a bank changes things for women who own businesses in Uganda. In 2019, the EIB invested almost €1.4 billion in projects in these regions. In this report, we give a breakdown of where our funding is going and take a close look at the impact of our investments. The Annual Report 2019 on EIB Activity in Africa, the Caribbean, the Pacific, and the Overseas Countries and Territories should be read in conjunction with the financial statements.
At the beginning of the 1990s, a massive speculative asset bubble burst in Japan, leaving the nation's banks with an enormous burden of nonperforming loans. Banking crises have become increasingly ...common across the globe, but what was distinctive about the Japanese case was the unusually long delay before the government intervened to aggressively address the bad debt problem. The postponed response by Japanese authorities to the nation's banking crisis has had enormous political and economic consequences for Japan as well as for the rest of the world. This book helps us understand the nature of the Japanese government's response while also providing important insights into why Japan seems unable to get its financial system back on track 13 years later.
The book focuses on the role of policy networks in Japanese finance, showing with nuance and detail how Japan's Finance Ministry was embedded within the political and financial worlds, how that structure was similar to and different from that of its counterparts in other countries, and how the distinctive nature of Japan's institutional arrangements affected the capacity of the government to manage change.
The book focuses in particular on two intervening variables that bring about a functional shift in the Finance Ministry's policy networks: domestic political change under coalition government and a dramatic rise in information requirements for effective regulation. As a result of change in these variables, networks that once enhanced policymaking capacity in Japanese finance became "paralyzing networks"--with disastrous results.
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