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There is growing interest in impact investing, the idea of deploying capital to obtain both financial and social or environmental returns. Examination of every equity investment made by one of the largest and longest-operating impact investors across 130 emerging market and developing economies shows this portfolio has outperformed the S and P 500 by 15 percent. Investments in larger economies have higher returns, and returns decline as banking systems deepen and countries relax capital controls. These results are consistent with imperfect integration of international capital markets and the thesis of impact investing that some eligible markets do not receive sufficient investment capital.

Capital Markets and Capital Flows --- Emerging Market Economies --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Impact Investing --- International Capital Markets --- International Financial Markets --- Private Equity --- Venture Capital

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Labor productivity in EMDEs is just under one-fifth of the advanced economy average, while in LICs, it is just 2 percent. Average productivity growth in EMDEs has picked up rapidly since 2000, renewing interest in the convergence hypothesis, which predicts that economies with low productivity should close productivity gaps over time. However, the average rate of convergence remains low, with current growth differentials halving the productivity gap only after over 100 years. Behind the low average pace of convergence lies considerable diversity among groups of countries converging toward different productivity levels (convergence clubs). Many EMDEs have moved into higher-level productivity convergence clubs since 2000, with 16 joining the highest club, primarily consisting of advanced economies. These transitioning EMDEs have been characterized by systematically better initial education levels, greater institutional quality, and high or deepening economic complexity relative to their income level, frequently aided by policies to encourage participation in global value chains. Countries seeking to replicate successes, or continue along rapid convergence paths, face a range of headwinds, including a more challenging environment to gain market share in manufacturing production or to increase global value chain integration.

Catching Up --- Convergence --- Economic Development --- Economic Growth --- Economic Theory and Research --- Emerging Market Economies --- Emerging Markets --- Labor Productivity --- Macroeconomic --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Private Sector Development --- Productivity

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This paper analyzes the main trends and patterns of nominal lending interest rates and lending-deposit interest rate spreads in emerging markets and developing economies. Using data from 140 emerging markets and developing economies, analysis shows that nominal lending rates and spreads declined between 2003 and 2017, with regional heterogeneity. In addition, it finds that less economically and financially developed countries tend to exhibit higher lending rates and spreads. These higher rates tend to be driven by higher spreads, not deposit interest rates. Also, illustrative regressions suggest that relevant correlates of nominal lending rates include inflation, public debt, and policy interest rate (macro-fiscal conditions); overhead costs, nonperforming loans, and non-interest income (banking characteristics); and credit bureau coverage and time to resolve insolvency (business environment). Finally, illustrative decompositions of the level and 10-year change between 2007 and 2017 of nominal lending rates find relative differences across regions. On the decline of nominal interest rates in that decade, rising public debt and nonperforming loans have pushed rates up, which was counterbalanced by a reduction in inflation, the policy interest rate, and overhead costs and a better business environment. Since the global financial crisis, a common global factor has increased in importance and has contributed to the downward trend in nominal lending rates.

Capital Markets and Capital Flows --- Emerging Market Economies --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Inflation --- Interest Spread --- Lending Rates --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Spreads

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public sector --- sectoral and microeconomic levels --- emerging market economies --- Finance, Public --- Finance, Public. --- Cameralistics --- Public finance --- Currency question --- Europe. --- Council of Europe countries --- Eastern Hemisphere --- Eurasia --- Public finances --- public administration --- emerging markets --- Economics

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This paper examines the effect of Basel III implementation on the access to finance of small and medium-size enterprises in 32 emerging markets and developing economies. Analyzing rich, repeated cross-sectional data and a panel of matched firm-bank data in a difference-in-differences setting with sample selection adjustment, the authors find a short-term, moderately negative effect of Basel III on small and medium-size enterprises' access to financing. The results suggest that firms with access to bank credit prior to Basel III implementation could have been affected less than firms that were initially on the fringes of financial inclusion-firms with only a bank account. The paper fails to find any additional heterogeneous effects across firm size or age, bank capitalization or liquidity, or across countries that transitioned to Basel III from Basel II versus Basel 2.5. Overall, the initial conditions of the banking system as well as of complementary business and financial regulation can co-determine the size of short-term costs from the newly implemented global financial regulation in emerging markets and developing economies.

Bank Regulation --- Basel III --- Emerging Market Economies --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Financial Regulation --- Financial Regulation and Supervision --- Firm-Level Data --- Impact Evaluation --- Private Sector Development --- Small and Medium Size Enterprises --- Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises --- SME Finance