The recent global financial crisis has made financial liberalization a topic of great academic and practical interest. This book makes new contributions to the topic by combining fact-finding, empirical analysis, and theory to examine the relationship between financial liberalization and economic growth. Among its contributions, the book provides detailed country assessments on the effects of financial liberalization, including its striking impact on the banking sector. Although an important goal of financial deregulation has been to help financial institutions better perform their role in intermediating resources, the book models how deregulation may fail to achieve that goal in countries with underdeveloped financial markets and institutions. For that purpose, the book draws on actual experience in Kenya, Malawi, Botswana, and Thailand. This book should constitute important reading for students.