Project finance as a driver of economic growth in low-income countries

This study investigates the role of project finance as a driver of economic growth. We hypothesize that project finance is beneficial to the least developed economies as it is able to compensate for a lack of domestic financial development. The contractual structure unique to project finance leads to better investment management and governance. Investigating 90 countries from 1991 to 2005, we find support for our hypothesis. Results show that project finance fosters economic growth and that its effect is strongest in low-income countries, where financial development and governance is weakest

An Introduction to International Factoring & Project Finance

This work consists of two essays on law and finance in international trade. It addresses the means of raising funds for investment through receivables financing and project finance. The first essay discusses the role of receivables financing and in particular factoring in international trade. It examines the nature of factoring transactions and presents the efforts at regulation on an international level aimed at overcoming the difficulties in enforcement. The second essay discusses project finance as a method of pooling funds for international development. It analyses the claim that project finance is a legally secure avenue to raise capital for foreign direct investment, with particular focus on the effectiveness of project finance in the context of international development projects.Receivables Financing; International Factoring; International Trade; Project Finance; Development

Infrastructure finance in Europe: Composition, evolution and crisis impact

This article is the first attempt to compile comprehensive data on infrastructure finance in Europe. We decompose infrastructure finance by institutional sector (i.e. public versus private) into its main components, which consist of traditional public procurement, project finance and finance by the corporate sector, and analyse how the roles of the public and private sectors in financing infrastructure have evolved over time, especially during the recent economic and financial crisis. In contrast with government finance that is slightly up, private finance, in particular project finance through Publi-Private Partnerships, has fallen substantially during the recent crisis, reversing, at least temporarily, the longer-term trend of more private and less public financing of infrastructure.Infrastructure investment; Public-Private Partnerships; Project finance; Crisis impact

The unofficial economy in Croatia: causes, size and consequences

This Occasional Paper reports the research results of a project on the unofficial economy in Croatia conducted by the Institute of Public Finance in Zagreb for the Croatian Ministry of Finance. The project team report was finalized in early 1997 and it includes some 15 papers which can be obtained both in Croatian (“Financijska praksa”, Vol. 21, No. 1-2, June 1997) and English (http://www.ijf.hr/finpraksa/eng/97/1-2/index.htm). This paper is the summary of the project written by Ivo Bićanić (University of Zagreb) and Katarina Ott (Institute of Public Finance)

Project Finance as a Driver of Economic Growth in Low-Income Countries

This study investigates the role of project finance as a driver of economic growth. We hypothesize that project finance is beneficial to the least developed economies as it compensates for any lack of domestic financial development. The contractual structure unique to project finance should lead to better investment management and governance. Investigating 90 countries from 1991 to 2005, we find support for our hypothesis. Project finance indeed fosters economic growth and this effect is strongest in low-income countries, where financial development and governance is weak.financial economics and financial management ;

Estimate of revenues from the value added tax in the Republic of Croatia

This Occasional Paper is part of a research project undertaken by the Institute of Public Finance and financed by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Croatia. The research project and the presented paper are published in Croatian in the Institute’s journal “Financijska praksa”, Volume 20, Number 2 (August 1996). Part I of the paper is written by Danijela Kuliš (Institute of Public Finance, Zagreb), and Part II is written by Žarko Miljenović (then, State Bureau for Macroeconomic Analyses and Forecasts, Zagreb; and now Zagrebačka banka, Zagreb). The project’s lead researcher was Dr. Katarina Ott (Institute of Public Finance, Zagreb)

Dispute Resolution in International Project Finance Transactions

This essay discusses how the legal practice in international financial problems has slowly evolved towards a better recognition of international arbitration in the field of project financing. While it is useful to compare the different types of dispute resolution mechanisms that are to be considered by participants for the implementation of their contracts, it is this author\u27s view that international arbitration is the most effective means of resolving international project finance transactions. Indeed, the assessment of the most effective forum cannot dismiss what this author considers as an essential feature of international project financing, i.e., its transactional unity. As a result, international arbitration is the most appropriate mechanism to deal with corollary specificities of international project financing, such as multi-party disputes. The business, and possibly, legal unity of international project finance transactions therefore determines the resolution of the disputes arising with respect to those transactions

Dispute Resolution in International Project Finance Transactions

This essay discusses how the legal practice in international financial problems has slowly evolved towards a better recognition of international arbitration in the field of project financing. While it is useful to compare the different types of dispute resolution mechanisms that are to be considered by participants for the implementation of their contracts, it is this author\u27s view that international arbitration is the most effective means of resolving international project finance transactions. Indeed, the assessment of the most effective forum cannot dismiss what this author considers as an essential feature of international project financing, i.e., its transactional unity. As a result, international arbitration is the most appropriate mechanism to deal with corollary specificities of international project financing, such as multi-party disputes. The business, and possibly, legal unity of international project finance transactions therefore determines the resolution of the disputes arising with respect to those transactions

Tax administration reform in transition: the case of Croatia

This Occasional Paper reports the research results of a project on the tax administration in Croatia conducted by the Institute of Public Finance in Zagreb for the Croatian Tax Administration. The project team report was finalised in summer 1997 and it includes ten papers which are published in Croatian in the Institute’s journal “Financijska praksa”, Volume 22 , Number 1-2 (April 1998). This paper is the summary of the project written by Katarina Ott (Institute of Public Finance)