Levine, Ross. <br/><br/>
The corporate governance of banks :  a concise discussion of concepts and evidence / 
Ross Levine. 
 - Washington, D. C :  World Bank,  2004. 
 - 19p ;  27 cm. 
 - Policy research working papers ;  no. 3404 .
 - World Bank. .
<br/><br/> Also available online.  "Levine examines the corporate governance of banks.  When banks efficiently mobilize and allocate funds, this lowers the cost of capital to firms, boosts capital formation, and stimulates productivity growth.  So, weak governance of banks reverberates throughout the economy with negative ramifications for economic development.  After reviewing the major governance concepts for corporations in general, the author discusses two special attributes of banks that make them special in practice: greater opaqueness than other industries and greater governance of banks and draws tentative policy lessons.  In sum, existing work suggests that it is important to strengthen the ability and incentives of private investors to exert governance over banks rather than to rely excessively on government regulators.  These conclusions, however, are particularly tentative because more research is needed on 
<br/><br/>Includes bibliographical references and index. 
<br/><br/> Open access. 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>Corporate governance.<br/>Banks and banking--Government policy.