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Our paper examines the relationship between institutional structures and the level of financial markets development in Africa. Our paper contributes to the extant literature by using other financial market development variables-ease of access to loans and venture capital availability-that have not before been used to analyzed how institutional structures influence the level of financial markets development in the context of Africa. We employ a two-step generalized method of moment estimator with corrected standard errors to examine this. We demonstrate that a high-quality institutional environment is relevant in explaining ease of access to loans and venture capital availability in Africa. Based on these results, our paper argues that good institutional structures could help stimulate the level of financial markets development in Africa. However, to attain this feat, African governments need to strengthen institutions through effective enforcement of laws to foster compliance in a specifically definite manner-by fashioning out costs for non-compliance

There is reasonable agreement that effective and well-developed institutions have a significant role to play in economic development. Accordingly a number of studies have attempted to relate institutions to the rate of economic growth and the level of efficiency of markets. This paper assesses the relationship between a number of economic development and institutional variables and the level of financial market development in the Middle East and north Africa (MENA) region. Correlation matrices support the view that the institutional environment in which financial markets function is important, as this reinforces the efficient allocation of economic rights that are essential for markets to function optimally. The correlation analysis also establishes a link between the development of financial markets and governance in the MENA region. However, regression estimates indicate that infrastructure development and the degree of openness of an economy are the most robust indicators for the development and effective functioning of financial markets in the MENA region.

In this dissertation I will try to give an answer to the following question: How is development of financial markets in BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) influencing their economic growth? The mentioned countries are all considered to be newly advanced economies at the similar stage of development. Even though they are very different in terms of economy, politics, history, and society, they share one single characteristic – a rapid economic growth during the last few decades. I will be focusing on several aspects of quite various financial markets in these emerging economies, such as stock, bonds, foreign exchange and derivatives markets. My mission is to analyse the impact that development of those markets left on the GDP growth of each of the BRICS countries. The general conclusion that can be drawn from my research is the following: financial markets development usually has a very positive impact on economic growth. However, in some cases, developed markets are not always a necessary precondition for growth. The situation of every country is very specific and what can be applied to one country, shouldn't necessarily be applied to the other.

This paper reviews the development of Philippine financial markets in the 1980s, covering a full decade of financial liberalization and interest rate deregulation. The extent of financial intermediation in the economy as measured by the M3/GDP ratio, hardly changed. However, there has been a shift from deposit substitutes to deposits, and an expansion of off-balance sheet activities. The long-term capital market remains relatively undeveloped, nor has universal banking produced a significant shift to long-term lending or to investments in non-allied undertakings. The positive developments include signs of an emerging long-term securities market and a revitalized stock market. Public sector borrowings have significantly increased, and interest rates have risen and become more volatile. The paper suggests the following to enhance financial markets development: greater macroeconomic stability, particularly in prices and interest rates; a regulatory structure that fosters information efficiency, competition and stability; the development of a long-term government securities market; and the encouragement of a greater supply of private securities.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of financial market development on corporate financing of emerging market firms to ascertain whether or not interactions in the financial market has any impact on the available choice of financing of firms.Design/methodology/approachPanel data covering the period 1990‐2006 for 34 emerging market economies were analyzed within the framework of Pesaran's dynamic fixed effect model and the pooled mean group estimator to capture the short‐ and long‐run effects of the covariates on the endogenous variables.FindingsThe findings of the research indicate significantly that the direction and magnitude of the impact of financial market development and macroeconomic variables on capital structure vary with the maturities of the security issue. It is also documented that firm level variables such as profitability, investment opportunity, asset tangibility and risk are equally important in predicting firms' capital structure decisions. The findings also indicate that economy wide variables such as gross domestic product per capita are significant predictors of financing choices of firms. The results of the study generally support existing literature on the impact of financial market development, macroeconomic variables and certain firm level factors on capital structure.Originality/valueThe paper considers unique data from emerging market economies over a 17‐year period.