Financial development enhances domestic resource mobilisation and also allows these resources to the most productive uses. While there is little doubt that financial development leads to higher economic growth which may then lead to poverty reduction, financial development in itself will allow developing countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

This paper examines the role of the external institutional environment captured by effective state-business relations on firm performance. By effective statebusiness relations, mean a set of highly institutionalised, responsive and public interactions between the state and the business sector. Find that

It has been shown that long-term growth and development across countries is driven to a large extent by productivity growth. Several studies exist that have attempted to examine the effect of different factors influencing productivity growth using industries or firms as units of analysis.

Effective state-business relations are a set of highly institutionalised, responsive and public interactions between the state and the business sector. This paper examines the