Private Credit in 129 Countries / Simeon Djankov, Caralee McLiesh, Andrei Shleifer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Djankov, Simeon.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

McLiesh, Caralee.

Shleifer, Andrei.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w11078.

NBER working paper series no. w11078

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2005.

Summary:

We investigate cross-country determinants of private credit, using new data on legal creditor rights and private and public credit registries in 129 countries. We find that both creditor protection through the legal system and information sharing institutions are associated with higher ratios of private credit to GDP, but that the former is relatively more important in the richer countries. An analysis of legal reforms also shows that improvements in creditor rights and in information sharing precede faster credit growth. We also find that creditor rights are extremely stable over time, contrary to the convergence hypothesis. Finally, we find that legal origins are an important determinant of both creditor rights and information sharing institutions.

Notes:

Print version record

January 2005.