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Cover -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION -- II. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK: NET INTEREST MARGINS AND GOVERNANCE -- A. Banking Sector Factors -- B. Governance Factors -- C. Macroeconomic Factors -- D. Empirical Methodologies -- III. EXPLAINING BANK INTERMEDIATION COSTS -- A. The Data -- Financial Intermediation Costs-The Net Interest Margin -- B. The Econometric Analysis -- Basic Specification -- Extended Models -- The Global Financial Crisis -- C. Robustness Checks -- IV. POLICY SIMULATIONS: THE COST OF POOR GOVERNANCE -- V. CONCLUSION -- REFERENCES -- FIGURES -- 1. Net Interest Margins in Different Country Groups, 1996 - 2015 -- 2. Net Interest Margins over Time, 1996 - 2015 -- TABLES -- 1. Basic Specification -- 2. Models Extended with Selected Governance Variables -- 3. Extended Models with Interconnectedness -- 4. Extended Models with Capital Market Variables -- 5. Extended Models with Impact of Global Financial Crisis -- 6. Estimated Potential Savings from Improved Governance -- 7. Countries Included in the Sample -- 8. Data Description and Sources -- 9. Correlation Coefficients of Main Variables -- 10. Robustness Check of Other Governance Indicators -- 11. Robustness Check for Endogeneity Using Instrument Variables -- 12. Robustness Checks for Cross-Sectional Dependence -- 13. Robustness Check for Non-Linearity -- 14. Robustness Check with Lagged Dependent Variable -- 15. Robustness Check for Outliers -- APPENDICES -- I. Countries Included in the Sample -- II. Data Description and Sources -- III. Correlation Coefficients -- IV. Robustness Checks

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Lebanon is expected to have gas resources in its Mediterranean basin, and these could turn thecountry into a natural gas producer over the next decade. Lebanon's economy and institutions will thus need to adapt to the challenges and opportunities that such change will bring. In this paper, we address how Lebanon's fiscal framework will need to be reformulated to take into account potential resource revenue. Designing a fiscal regime appropriately is an absolute prerequisite to make sure the government can receive a fair share of the resources while investors face appropriate incentives to inve

AbstractLebanon is expected to have gas resources in its Mediterranean basin, and these could turn the country into a natural gas producer over the next decade. Lebanon's economy and institutions will thus need to adapt to the challenges and opportunities that such change will bring. In this paper, we address how Lebanon's fiscal framework will need to be reformulated to take into account potential resource revenue. Designing a fiscal regime appropriately is an absolute prerequisite to make sure that the government can receive a fair share of the resources while investors face appropriate incentives to invest and develop the sector. This step should be followed by setting macro-fiscal anchors and supporting institutions. The prospective framework should be focused on ensuring fiscal sustainability and intergenerational equity, given the estimated relatively short horizon of Lebanon's gas resources. Strong institutional arrangements also need to underpin the prospective framework, to ensure that the pace of resource wealth's use is set in line with Lebanon's capacity constraints.