The Heterogeneous Impact of Financialisation on Economic Growth in the Long Run

Abstract

Financialisation, i.e., the process by which financial markets and their participants gain more influence over the functioning of enterprises/companies and the framework of the financial system, changes the functioning of the economic system, both at the macro- and microeconomic level. There is no doubt that financialisation impacts economic growth. Still, research does not substantiate the heterogeneity of financialisation effects and does not provide a comprehensive analysis of the sources of heterogeneity. In most cases, researchers provide only theoretical insights into what may lead to different effects of financialisation on economic growth. This study empirically examines whether institutional quality and economic development intermediate the relationship between financialisation and economic growth using a panel of 96 countries over the period of 1996–2017 and least squares dummy variables (LSDV) estimator. We found that the impact of financialisation on economic growth differs across countries and that institutional quality and economic development are the sources of the heterogeneous impact of financialisation on economic growth.