文档介绍：Journal of Economic Literature
Vol. XXXV (June 1997), pp. 688-726
Financial Development and Economic
Growth: Views and Agenda
Ross LEVINE
University of Virginia
I thank, uithoiil implicating, Gerard Caprio. Maria Carkotic, David Cole, Robert Cull, Wil-
linm Easterly. Mark Gertler, Fabio Schianlarelli, Mary Shirley, Bruce Smith, and Kennelh
Sokoloff for criticintm. guidance, and encouragement. This paper was written tthile I was at
the World Bank. Opiniom expressed are those of the author and do iiof necessnrihj reflect the
views of the World Bank, its staff, or member countries.
Does finance make a difference . . .? Raymond Goldsmith (1969, p. 408)
I. Introduction: Goals and Boundaries of financial factors in economic growth
while development economists fre-
CONOMISTS HOLD startlingly dif- quently express their skepticism about
E ferent opinions regarding the im- the role of the financial system by ignor-
portance of the financial system for eco- ing it (Anand Chandavarkar 1992). For
nomic growth. Walter Bagehot (1873) example, a collection of essays by the
and John Hicks (1969) argue that it "pioneers of development economics,"
played a critical role in igniting industri- including three Nobel Laureates, does
alization in England by facilitating the not mention finance (Gerald Meir and
mobilization of capital for "immense Dudley Seers 1984). Furthermore,
works," Joseph Schumpeter (1912) con- Nicholas Stern's (1989) review of devel-
tends that well-functioning banks spur opment economics does not discuss the
technological innovation by identifying financial system, even in a section that
and funding those entrepreneurs with lists omitted topics. In light of these con-
the best chances of essfully imple- flicting views, this paper uses existing
menting innovative products and pro- theory anize an analytical frame-
duction processes. In contrast, Joan Rob- work of the finance-growth nexus and
inson (1952, p. 86) declares th