Finance, Banks and the Stability of Emerging Markets

Access to finance and sound banking institutions are two critical elements in any attempt to promote economic development in least-developed countries. Nevertheless, only in recent years have existing relations between financial liberalization, banking practices and the economic performance of emerging market economies been investigated in depth. In this review essay, prompted by a recent book, "Finance for Development" by Barbara Stallings, we discuss some important issues in this promising field of applied research.