Financial Development, Financial Fragility, and Growth

This paper attempts to reconcile the apparent contradiction between two strands of the literature on the effects of financial intermediation on economic activity. On the one hand, the empirical growth literature finds a positive effect of financial depth as measured by, for instance, private domestic credit and liquid liabilities (e.g., Levine, Loayza, and Beck 2000). On the other hand, the banking and currency crisis literature finds that monetary aggregates, such as domestic credit, are among the best predictors of crises and their related economic downturns (e.g., Kaminski and Reinhart 1999). This paper starts by illustrating these opposing effects by, first, analyzing the dynamics of output growth and financial intermediation around systemic banking crises and, second, showing that the growth enhancing effects of financial depth are weaker in countries that experienced such crises. After these illustrative exercises, the paper attempts an empirical explanation of the apparently opposing effects of financial intermediation. This explanation is based on a distinction between transitory and trend effects of domestic credit aggregates on economic growth. Working with a panel of cross-country and time-series observations, the paper estimates an encompassing model of long- and short-run effects, following Pesaran, Shin, and Smith (1999)’s Pooled Mean Group Estimator. The main result of the paper is that a positive long-run relationship between financial intermediation and output growth co-exists with a, mostly, negative short-run relationship.

Financial conditions and the risks to economic growth in the United States since 1875

We explore the historical relationship between financial conditions and real economic growth for quarterly U.S. data from 1875 to 2017 with a flexible empirical copula modelling methodology. We compare specifications with both linear and non-linear dependence, and with both Gaussian and non-Gaussian marginal distributions. Our results indicate strong statistical support for models that are both non-Gaussian and nonlinear for our historical data, with considerable heterogeneity across sub-samples. We demonstrate that ignoring the contribution of financial conditions typically understates the conditional downside risks to economic growth in crises. For example, accounting for financial conditions more than doubles the probability of negative growth in the year following the 1929 stock market crash

Financial inclusion, financial stability and sustainability in the banking sector : the case of Indonesia

Purpose: The purpose of the present study is to analyze the effect of financial inclusion on sustainable economic growth for Indonesian banking companies, and to investigate the effect of financial inclusion on sustainable economic growth through financial system stability. Design/Methodology/Approach: This research is a quantitative study using secondary data taken from annual financial statements of banking companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (BEI) over the period 2010-2017. Findings: The results show that (a) the financial inclusion does not affect sustainable economic growth in Indonesian banking companies, and (b) the financial system stability mediates the effect of financial inclusion on sustainable economic growth in Indonesian banking companies. Practical Implications: This study provides deeper insight into the factors that drive financial inclusion and an increase in market share and financial performance of banks. With conditions of inclusion that are still low in Indonesia while the number of banks is increasing, it is necessary to have strong financial system stability. By understanding the matrix in financial inclusion, managers are well-positioned to understand the strategies needed to promote financial inclusion so that market share increases. Likewise, the results of the present study are probable to be an input for other stakeholders for their consideration in decision making. Originality/Value: Empirical research that explores the effects of financial inclusion, and sustainable economic growth in Indonesia is still very limited. According to our knowledge, no one has examined the use of financial system stability as mediation as it is used in this studypeer-reviewe

Financial Dependence and Growth

Does finance affect economic growth? A number of studies have identified a positive correlation between the level of development of a country's financial sector and the rate of growth of its per capita income. As has been noted elsewhere, the observed correlation does not necessarily imply a causal relationship. This paper examines whether financial development facilitates economic growth by scrutinizing one rationale for such a relationship; that financial development reduces the costs of external finance to firms. Specifically, we ask whether industrial sectors that are relatively more in need of external finance develop disproportionately faster in countries with more developed financial markets. We find this to be true in a large sample of countries over the 1980s. We show this result is unlikely to be driven by omitted variables, outliers, or reverse causality.

Financial deepening and economic growth

The core of Shapley-Shubik games and general equilibrium models with a Venn diagram is applied for a theory on the role of real finance in economic growth among advanced economies. Then the dynamic computable general equilibrium (DCGE) models for Germany, France, UK, Japan and USA are constructed to assess the validity of the over financing hypothesis that reappeared after the financial crisis of 2008. Actual financial deepening ratios observed in the non-consolidated balance sheet of the OECD exceeded by factors of 3.5, 2.4, 5.1, 11.6 and 4.8 to the optimal financial deepening ratios implied by DCGE models respectively in these countries because of excessive leveraging and bubbles up to 19 times of GDP which were responsible for this great recession. Containing such massive fluctuations for macroeconomic stability and growth in these economies is not possible in conventional fiscal and monetary policy models and requires a DCGE analysis like this along with adoption of separating equilibria strategy in line of Miller-Stiglitz-Roth mechanisms to avoid asymmetric information problems in process of financial intermediation so that the gap between actual and optimal ratios of financial deepening remain as small as possible

Finance and Growth Cycles

This research examines the effect of financial development on volatility in economic growth. It demonstrates theoretically that financial development has a hump-shaped effect on volatility in economic growth. In early stages of the development of a financial sector, growth rates evolve monotonically. At the intermediate level of financial development, as the degree of credit market imperfections diminishes and as asymmetric information between borrowers and lenders is less pronounced, an economy exhibits endogenous growth cycles. However, as the financial sector matures, the volatility in the growth process dissipates and the growth rates evolve once again monotonically.Endogenous Growth Cycles; Financial Deepening; Credit market imperfections; Heterogeneous agents

The Direction of Causality Between Financial Development and Economic Growth

This paper employs the Geweke decomposition test on pooled data of 109 developing and industrial countries from 1960 to 1994 to examine the direction of causality between financial development and economic growth. The paper finds that (1) financial development generally leads to economic growth; (2) the Granger causality from financial development to economic growth and the Granger causality from economic growth to financial development coexist; (3) financial deepening contributes more to the causal relationships in the developing countries than in the industrial countries; (4) the longer the sampling interval, the larger the effect of financial development on economic growth; (5) financial deepening propels economic growth through both a more rapid capital accumulation and productivity growth, with the latter channel being the strongest.

Financial integration and financial development in transition economies : what happens during financial crises ?

This papers provides an empirical analysis of the role of financial development and financial integration in the growth dynamics of transition countries. We focus on the role of financial integration in determining the impact of financial development on growth, distinguishing "normal times" from periods of financial crises. In addition to confirming the significant positive effect on growth exerted by financial development and financial integration, our estimates show that a higher degree of financial openness tends to reduce the contractionary effect of financial crises, by cushioning the effect on the domestic supply of credit. Consequently, the high reliance on international capital flows by transition countries does not necessarily increase their financial fragility. This implies that financial protectionism is a self-defeating policy, at least for transition countries.Transition economies, financial integration, financial crises, economic growth, threshold effects.

Does Financial Liberalization Spur Growth?

We show that equity market liberalizations, on average, lead to a one percent increase in annual real economic growth over a five-year period. The liberalization effect is not spuriously accounted for by macro-economic reforms and does not reflect a business cycle effect. Although financial liberalizations further financial development, measures of financial development fail to fully drive out the liberalization effect. The investment/GDP ratio increases post liberalization, with the investment partially financed by foreign capital inducing worsened trade balances. Differentiating across liberalizing countries, a large secondary school enrollment, a small government sector and an Anglo-Saxon legal system tend to enhance the liberalization effect. Finally, the conditional convergence effect is larger once financial liberalization is accounted for.

Regional financial development and firm growth in Peru

This paper documents the relationship between regional financial development and firm growth in the Peruvian manufacturing sector. In order to control for mutual causality between credit availability and firm growth, industry differences in financial dependence on external funds are exploited. The 1994 and 2008 rounds of the National Economic Census are used, permitting analysis at the firm level as well as the activity level. Results suggest a significant and positive effect of financial deepening on surviving firms` growth. However, this effect is smaller for micro enterprises, suggesting that the cost of external funding decreases with financial development mainly for large firms. The conclusions remain unchanged when entering and exiting firms are included. The paper further finds that credit expansion have encouraged not only firm growth but also firm entry. The results are robust using an alternative measure of financial dependence.