"The author examines the impact of foreign portfolio investment on the financial constraints of small firms. Using a dataset of over 195,000 firm-year observations across 53 countries, she examines the impact of foreign portfolio investment on capital issuance and firm growth across countries...

"The authors propose a more complete conceptual framework for analysis of credit availability for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In this framework, lending technologies are the key conduit through which government policies and national financial structures affect credit availability. They...

"While there have been numerous impact evaluations of unemployed individuals participating in retraining programs or in programs to foster self-employment, impact evaluations of enterprises benefiting from training programs for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are rare. The authors reevaluate...

This report synthesizes the work carried out as part of a World Bank ASA (Advisory Services and Analytics) activity to identify better systems and practical strategies that countries can use for improved monitoring of small-scale cross border trade (SSCBT). Large amounts of goods are known to be...

The objective of this study is to contribute to the development of new structured financial products in Peru, in particular as means to address the problems of access to finance faced by underserved segments such as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This document reviews how structured...

Ethiopia's rural non-farm sector is significant and participation is increasing. The sector is particularly important for women and poorer households. Non-farm enterprises provide income-earning opportunities to those lacking alternative options and supplementary income for farming households....

Bolivia's informal sector is the largest in Latin America, by many definitions and measures. Bolivia's high informality rate has been blamed on many factors including the burden of regulation, the weakness of public institutions, and the lack of perceived benefits to being formal. The high level...