United States, March 13 -- Businesses in developing countries have rapidly expanded their use of capital markets since the turn of the century, a trend that is fueling new investments, increasing sales, and creating more jobs, new research from the World Bank Group shows.The study, Financing Firm Growth: The Role of Capital Markets in Low- and Middle-Income Countries, analyzes data from nearly 80,000 firms worldwide. It finds that stock and bond issuances by companies in low- and middle-income countries doubled as a share of GDP between 2000 and 2022. In middle-income countries, cumulative net capital issuance-the sum of stock and bond issuances minus bonds that have matured-increased fourfold during that period. The increase in low-income ...