Abstract
For good or for bad, finance has a pervasive role in modern economies. Understanding the functioning and evolution of financial markets and intermediaries and their interconnections with the real world is an old theme in economics, but one that needs continuous updating to keep pace with financial innovation on one side and the development of new statistical tools for their analysis on the other. This introductory chapter gives an overview of how interest in understanding the financial aspects of the economy has fluctuated considerably in the past, before reaching centre-stage in recent years. It also argues that the clarity of the macroeconomic picture of a country’s financial structure offered by its financial accounts is difficult to match, and it illustrates the thread connecting the essays included in the rest of the book. The key message is that financial accounts can be a powerful tool for understanding the structure and the weaknesses of financial systems.
We would like to thank Alfredo Gigliobianco, Riccardo Massaro, and Ignazio Visco for their comments on a previous version. The opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the Bank of Italy or of the Eurosystem.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aghion P, Howitt P, Mayer D (2005) The effect of financial development on convergence. Quart J Econ 120:173–222
Allen F, Gale D (2000) Comparing financial systems. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA
Allen F, Gale D (2008) An introduction to financial crises. In: Allen F, Gale D (eds) Financial crises. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham
Angeloni I, Kashyap KA, Mojon B (eds) (2003) Monetary policy transmission in the Euro area. A study by the eurosystem monetary transmission network. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Arrow KJ, Debreu G (1954) Existence of an equilibrium for a competitive economy. Econometrica 22:265–290
Basel Committe on Banking Supervision (2011) The transmission channels between the financial and real sectors: a critical survey of the literature, Working paper 18
Beck T, Demirgüç-Kunt A, Levine R (2000) A new database on financial development and structure. World Bank Econ Rev 14:597–605
Bernanke BS (1983) Non-monetary effects of the financial crisis in the propagation of the great depression. Am Econ Rev 73:257–276
Bernanke BS, Blinder AS (1988) Credit, money and aggregate demand. Am Econ Rev 78(May):435–439
Bonci R, Columba F (2008) Monetary policy effects: new evidence from the Italian flow of funds. Appl Econ 40(21):2803–2818
Cameron R (1967) Banking in the early stages of industrialization: a study in comparative economic history. Oxford University Press, New York
Christiano L, Eichenbaum M, Evans C (1996) The effects of monetary policy shocks: evidence from the flow of funds. Rev Econ Stat 78:16–34
Copeland MA (1952) A study of money flows in the United States. NBER, New York
Demirguc-Kunt A, Levine R (eds) (2001) Financial structure and economic growth. A cross-country comparison of banks, markets, and development. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
Diamond DW, Dybvig PH (1983) Bank runs, deposit insurance, and liquidity. J Polit Econ 91:401–419
Djankov S, Glaeser E, La Porta L, Lopez-de-Silanes R, Shleifer A (2003) The new comparative economics. J Comp Econ 31:595–619
Fisher I (1933) The debt-deflation theory of great depressions. Econometrica 1:337–357
Friedman M, Schwartz AJ (1963) A monetary history of the United States: 1867–1960. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Gerschenkron A (1962) Economic backwardness in historical perspective. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Goldsmith RW (1969) Financial structure and development. Yale University Press, New Haven
Gurley JG, Shaw ES (1955) Financial aspects of economic development. Am Econ Rev 45:515–538
Gurley JG, Shaw ES (1956) Financial intermediaries and the saving-investment process. J Financ 11:57–76
Heidler M, Mueller C, Weddige O (2009) Concepts of modelling pension entitlements – the Freiburg model. In: European Central Bank and Eurostat (2009), Workshop on pensions, 29–30 Apr 2009
Jensen M, Meckling W (1976) Theory of the firm: managerial behaviour, agency costs and ownership structure. J Financ Econ 19:217–236
Kindleberger CP (1978) Manias, panics, and crashes. A history of financial crisis. Basic Books, New York
King RG, Levine R (1993) Finance and growth: Schumpeter might be right. Quart J Econ 108:717–737
La Porta R, Lopez de Silanes F, Shleifer A, Vishny RW (1997) Legal determinants of external finance. J Financ 52:1131–1150
Levine R (2005) Finance and growth: theory and evidence. In: Aghion P, Durlauf SN (eds) Handbook of economic growth, vol 1. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 865–934, Part 2
Lucas RE Jr (1988) On the mechanics of economic development. J Monet Econ 22:3–42
McKinnon RI (1973) Money and capital in economic development. Brookings Institution, Washington
Meier GM, Seers D (1984) Pioneers in development. Oxford University Press, New York
Mishkin FS (1978) The household balance sheet and the great depression. J Econ Hist 38:918–937
Mishkin FS (2011) Monetary policy strategy: lessons from the crisis, NBER working paper No. 16755
Modigliani F, Miller M (1958) The cost of capital, corporation finance and the theory of investment. Am Econ Rev 48:261–297
Myers SC, Majluf NS (1984) Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have. J Financ Econ 13:187–221
Rajan RG, Zingales L (2001) Financial systems, industrial structure, and growth. Oxford Rev Econ Pol 17:467–482
Rajan RG, Zingales L (2003) The great reversals: the politics of financial development in the 20th century. J Financ Econ 69:5–50
Reinhart CM, Rogoff KS (2009) This time is different. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Robinson J (1952) The generalization of the general theory. In: Robinson J (ed) The rate of interest and other essays. Macmillan, London
Roe MJ, Siegel JI (2009) Finance and politics: a review essay based on Kenneth Dam’s analysis of legal tradition” in “The Law-Growth Nexus”. Journal of Economic Literature 47:781–800
Schumpeter JA (1911) The theory of economic development. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA
Tadesse S (2002) Financial architecture and economic performance: international evidence. J Financ Intermed 11:429–454
Tobin J (1963) Commercial banks as creators of money. In: Carson D (ed) Banking and monetary studies. Richard D. Irwin III, Homewood
Veblen T (1904) Theory of business enterprise. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, Chapter VII
Visco I (2009) The global crisis: the role of policies and the international monetary system, paper given at the conference on Causes of the crisis: key lessons, G20 Workshop on the global economy. Mumbai, 24–26 May 2009
Woodford M (2010) Financial intermediation and macroeconomic analysis. J Econ Perspect 24:21–44
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
De Bonis, R., Pozzolo, A.F. (2012). Financial Systems: Introduction and Summary. In: De Bonis, R., Pozzolo, A. (eds) The Financial Systems of Industrial Countries. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23111-7_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23111-7_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-23110-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-23111-7
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsEconomics and Finance (R0)