• Loading stock data...
Global Business and Finance Magazine > Blog
Development Economy Featured World

The ideological roots of technological transformation: Meiji Japan versus Imperial China

Japan and China both faced exposure to Western imperialism in the 19th century, but their responses were starkly different. Japan’s decentralised political system allowed more flexibility in adopting Western technologies and institutions during the Meiji Restoration, whereas China’s centralised bureaucracy hindered significant reforms. This column argues that ideological factors – particularly the willingness to embrace […]

Read More
World Economy Featured

Information can reduce the long-term financial consequences of part-time work for mothers

The ‘child penalty’ significantly reduces women’s lifetime earnings and pension savings, but whether this is the result of deliberate forward-looking decisions remains unclear. This column uses survey responses and an experiment with Swiss public-school teachers to examine the role of information constraints in women teachers’ labour supply decisions following childbirth. Long-term financial factors are not […]

Read More
Economy Featured News World

Design-based fiscal stimulus transfers: Evidence and macro implications

In recent years, and during Covid-19 in particular, many countries have experimented with innovative approaches to fiscal stimulus. This column reports on an experiment in France in which individuals were given a debit card tied to a new bank account with an initial balance of €300, but with differing conditions. While certain groups, such as […]

Read More
Finance Economy Featured trade World

A new index to measure geopolitical fragmentation in global greenfield foreign direct investment

Global foreign direct investment flows are increasingly mirroring the world’s geopolitical divides. This column introduces a new index for FDI fragmentation that differentiates flows within and between three distinct blocs: a Western bloc, an Eastern bloc, and a neutral bloc of non-aligned nations. Being part of different geopolitical blocs reduces greenfield FDI flows between two […]

Read More
Finance Featured News World

Decoding DeFi lending: Motivations, risks, and investor behaviours

Decentralised finance lending platforms have experienced tremendous growth since 2020. This column uses transaction-level data to study the behaviour of investors in the market. It finds depositing in decentralised finance lending pools is mainly driven by ‘search for yield’ motivations, particularly for retail investors. Borrowing is driven by speculation as well as for governance benefits, […]

Read More
Finance Banking Featured World

Reviewing the ECB’s monetary policy strategy in the age of polycrisis

The ECB concluded its last monetary policy strategy review and adopted a new strategy in 2021, just before the unprecedented surge in inflation. Three years and three crises later, this column takes stock of how well the revised strategy functioned in a high-inflation environment. The redefined inflation target helped achieve the ECB goal to tame […]

Read More
Energy Featured Finance World

Heterogeneous effects of monetary tightening in response to energy price shocks

Starting in mid-2021, energy prices soared to unprecedented heights. Initially driven by the global post-pandemic rebound, this was exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This column shows that an energy price shock has a negative effect on individual households and macroeconomic outcomes. Passive monetary policy can mitigate the economic consequences, whereas active policy responses […]

Read More
tax Banking Featured World

Evaluation of a new international policy instrument to curb offshore tax evasion: Global information sharing of bank information

While the financial secrecy of offshore tax havens has historically created ample tax evasion opportunities for wealthy individuals, automatic information exchange between tax authorities is an ambitious attempt to make tax enforcement possible. This column summarises describes how information exchange creates large improvements in tax compliance through repatriation of offshore wealth, self-reporting of offshore financial […]

Read More
Finance Banking Featured World

The financial accelerator within and between countries

Assets prices can amplify economic cycles through their effects on firm investment. Furthermore, these effects vary depending on firm size, with larger firms being better at self-financing investments. This column uses firm-level data from France to show significant heterogeneity by firm size in the sensitivity of investment to real estate prices. Using variation in firm […]

Read More