Welcome to this month’s World Bank Research E-Newsletter, a monthly summary of research conducted by our department.
Happy new year! This month’s newsletter focuses on the topic of international banking. We recently launched our Global Financial Development Report 2017/2018: Bankers without Borders, so we’re taking this opportunity to highlight recent research that is covered in this report. Papers tackle issues such as the performance of international banks in developing countries; the impact of foreign monetary policy on credit supply; the cushion provided by capital markets during a shock to bank lending; and many others.
In December we also hosted a Policy Research Talk focused on Fiscal Policy: Ready for the Next Shock? Fiscal positions in many emerging market and developing economies have weakened considerably since the global financial crisis. This will constrain the room for policy makers in these economies to utilize fiscal policy when the next shock hits. In this talk, Franziska Ohnsorge laid out a definition of fiscal space, described the evolution of fiscal space in emerging market and developing economies, and drew out the implications of diminishing fiscal space for these economies. If you missed it, a presentation and video are available.
There is of course much more in the newsletter, including blog posts on favorite development papers from 2017 and a recap of our recent trade research conference, as well as coverage from the Financial Times of our data and research on income inequality.
Enjoy!
—Asli
