In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in International Economics:

President of the committee:

• Beatrice Weder Di Mauro, Professor

Members of the committee:

• Ugo Panizza, Professor, Thesis Co-Supervisor
• Cédric Tille, Professor, Thesis Co-Supervisor
• Beatrice Weder Di Mauro, Professor, Internal Reader
• Steven Ongena, Professor, Department of Banking and Finance, University of Zürich