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This paper investigates empirically how three types of sociopolitical instability -- elite, violent, & social -- influence international aid allocation by donors. The results indicate that aid allocation depends on the type of instability (the effect of violent & elite instability is positive, whereas social instability has a negative influence), characteristics of recipient countries (whether the recipient country is a low-income country or an oil exporter), & the kind of aid received (bilateral or multilateral). 7 Tables, 3 Figures, 58 References. Adapted from the source document.

This paper investigates the relationship between taxation and firm performance in developing countries. Taking firm-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys (WBES) and tax data from the Government Revenue Dataset (ICTD/UNU-WIDER), our results suggest that tax revenue benefits to firm growth in developing countries, especially in low-income countries and lower-middle income countries. These findings are robust to the inclusion of alternative covariates and specifications, and do not appear to be sample dependent. We also provide evidence that the positive effect of taxation on firm growth falls significantly when corruption is too pervasive, and when the origin of tax revenue origin reduces government accountability. Lastly, our paper finds that the positive effect of domestic revenue on firm performance could channel through the financing of public infrastructures vital to firms operating in lower-income countries.

International audience ; This study focuses on the impact financial development on the performance of firmsin countries with low financial development. Previous studies focusing on financial depth alone find thatfinancial development does not affect, or has a negative effect on, economic growth in developing countrieswith undersized financial systems. Using firm-level data in panel for a sample of 26 countries, we find thatthis hypothesis is invalidated if one takes into account not only financial depth but also financial inclusion,i.e.the distribution of access to financial services. Contrary to developed countries where financial inclusionis nearly universal, differences in access to credit among firms help explaining differences in firms perfor-mance. We measure financial inclusion as the share of firms who have access to bank overdraft facilities, or,alternatively, to any external source of financing, at the sectoral level. We find that whereas financial devel-opment does not affect firm performance on average, financial inclusion has a positive effect on firms growth.Where financial inclusion is low, financial development may create crowding out effects in favor of a minorityof firms or government that phase out or reverse its expected positive effects of financial development ongrowth. Additional testing show that these effects affect all firms, irrespective of size, or whether they haveaccess to bank credit or not. We interpret these results as showing that financial deepening increases firmsgrowth only if it widely distributed among firms, i. e. financial inclusion is high.

International audience ; This study focuses on the impact financial development on the performance of firmsin countries with low financial development. Previous studies focusing on financial depth alone find thatfinancial development does not affect, or has a negative effect on, economic growth in developing countrieswith undersized financial systems. Using firm-level data in panel for a sample of 26 countries, we find thatthis hypothesis is invalidated if one takes into account not only financial depth but also financial inclusion,i.e.the distribution of access to financial services. Contrary to developed countries where financial inclusionis nearly universal, differences in access to credit among firms help explaining differences in firms perfor-mance. We measure financial inclusion as the share of firms who have access to bank overdraft facilities, or,alternatively, to any external source of financing, at the sectoral level. We find that whereas financial devel-opment does not affect firm performance on average, financial inclusion has a positive effect on firms growth.Where financial inclusion is low, financial development may create crowding out effects in favor of a minorityof firms or government that phase out or reverse its expected positive effects of financial development ongrowth. Additional testing show that these effects affect all firms, irrespective of size, or whether they haveaccess to bank credit or not. We interpret these results as showing that financial deepening increases firmsgrowth only if it widely distributed among firms, i. e. financial inclusion is high.

This paper analyzes the preconditions for sustained policy turnarounds in failing states. Our dependent variable is the probability of the commencement of a turnaround that eventually becomes both sustained and substantial. We focus upon the explanatory variables of resource rents, education, and aid, distinguishing between finance and technical assistance. Overall, we find that these variables have significant and large effects on the duration of state failure. Appropriate donor intervention can radically shorten state failure, whereas additional finance, whether from aid or resource rents, has the opposite effect.