Financial literacy,financial inclusion,and savings behavior in Laos

This study examines the effects of financial literacy on financial inclusion and savings behavior in Laos. Compared to previous literature, we use a broader definition of financial literacy which covers not only financial knowledge but also financial behavior and financial attitudes. We also use a new definition of financial inclusion which goes beyond the supply-side perspective to consider the consumer’s perspective. To do so, we use the survey instrument designed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development International Network on Financial Education. We also used more reliable instrumental variables to investigate the effects of financial literacy on financial inclusion (and its components) and savings behavior. We find that financial literacy has statistically positive effects on both financial inclusion and savings. Moreover, the effects of financial literacy on different measures of financial inclusion vary. Our results further show that individuals with higher financial literacy scores are more likely to hold savings in both formal and informal forms than those who have lower financial literacy scores, even when we control for income and education.     

Finance, governments, and trade

We study how financial transactions may respond to exogenous variation in trade opportunities not only directly, but also through policy channels. In more open economies, governments may find it more difficult to fund and enforce public policies that substitute private financial transactions, and more appealing to deregulate financial markets. We propose a simple theoretical model of such policy-mediated relationships between trade and financial development. Empirically, we document in a country panel dataset that, before the 2007–2008 crisis, financial market volumes were robustly and negatively related to the share of government consumption in GDP in regressions that also include indicators of financial regulation and trade openness, and we seek support for a causal interpretation of this result in instrumental variable specifications.     

Money,Velocity, and the Stock Market

This paper provides a study of the relationship between money growth variability, velocity, and the stock market, using recent advances in financial econometrics. We estimate a trivariate VARMA, GARCH-in-Mean, BEKK model to quantify the effects of financial market and money supply instability. We investigate the robustness of the results to different definitions of money using monthly Divisia indices for the United States from the Center for Financial Stability (CFS). Empirical evidence supports significance of financial market and money supply volatility, and we conclude that Friedman’s money supply volatility hypothesis is alive and well.     

Financial Systems, Industrial Structure, and Growth

How does the development of the financial sector affect industrialgrowth? What effect does it have on the composition of industry,and the size distribution of firms? What is the relative importanceof financial institutions and financial markets, and does itdepend on the stage of economic growth? How do financial systemsdiffer in their vulnerability to crisis? This paper attemptsto provide an answer to these questions based on the currentstate of empirical research.     

Entry,information, and financial development: A century of competition between French banks and notaries

Poorly developed financial markets are widely believed to block economic growth, because only modern financial intermediaries such as banks can mobilize large amounts of financial capital at low cost. This claim is supported by cross country regressions, but the regressions assume that credit intermediation is measured accurately before modern financial intermediaries arrive. If traditional intermediaries were mobilizing large amounts of financial capital before banks or other modern intermediaries appear, then the strength of the relationship between financial development and economic growth would be cast into doubt. Using an original panel dataset from nineteenth-century France, we provide the first estimates of how much financial capital key traditional intermediaries (notaries) were mobilizing for an entire economy during its first century of economic growth, and we analyze the lending that the notaries made possible in French mortgage market. The amount of capital they mobilized turns out to be large. We then analyze the effect that financial deepening had on the notaries as banks spread and find that the banks' and notaries' services were in all likelihood complements. The implication is that the link between financial development and economic growth may therefore be weaker than is assumed.     

The Asian crisis,private sector saving,and policy implications

The Asian financial crisis has several critical implications for the saving behavior in the crisis-hit economies as well as in other Asian economies, which are summarized as follows: increase in economic uncertainty; increase in poverty; decrease in public confidence in financial institutions; financial liberalization; and reduction in corporate leverage ratio. Putting these together, the postcrisis saving rates in the crisis economies are likely to decrease without government interventions. Although the uncertainity factor may contribute to an increase in short-term saving, an abated level in household income and corporate output and slow GDP growth will lead to a contraction in saving rates. Increased poverty, diminished public confidence in banking institutions, and the increased variability of business sales will further contribute to a reduction in saving rates of the household and corporate sectors. Keeping this in mind, the postcrisis saving policy should consider stronger macroeconomic stabilization policies to reduce the underlying economic uncertainty to encourage long-term savings/investments; improving the public confidence in financial institutions through financial restructuring and a proper deposit insurance scheme in place; channeling informal sector saving into the formal financial institutions; and promoting propoor saving policies.     

The financial systems approach to development finance: Origin,evolution and prospects

This article focuses on the prospects of the financial systems approach to development finance to ensure sustainable access to financial services for microentrepreneurs. It discusses three prerequisites for the success of this approach: the continued application of financial liberalisation policies; the delivery of financial services on a commercially viable basis by emulating the successes of informal financial intermediaries in solving the problems normally experienced by the formal financial sector when serving microentrepreneurs; and the continued appropriate support from governments and the donor community. It is postulated that these prerequisites will be fulfilled, making the author cautiously optimistic that the financial systems approach to development finance will succeed in securing sustainable access to financial services for microentrepreneurs in the 21st century.     

新型国际分工、国际收支失衡与金融创新

在20世纪90年代以后,世界上主要国家的国际收支失衡得到了非常广泛的关注.很多学者认为金融发展包括金融一体化、金融深化和国家之间的金融异质性是这次失衡得以持续的重要原因.本文认为金融创新作为金融发展的动力或源泉促进了国家在制造业和金融业的分工.具有金融业比较优势的国家容易产生经常项目的赤字,具有制造业比较优势的国家容易产生经常项目的盈余.全球数据的检验结果进一步验证了国际分工对全球国际收支失衡的影响.     

Consumption,financial wealth and labor income in Korea

By examining the relationship between consumption, financial wealth and labor income in Korea, this paper presents three key findings. First, we find evidence that Korean households hold a larger proportion of their wealth in human capital instead of financial wealth, compared to households in other countries. Potentially, this finding appears consistent with Koreans’ enthusiasm for human development through education despite low government funding. Another important finding is that only financial wealth fluctuations contain a large portion of temporary components. Hence, financial wealth is mainly responsible for adjustments to restore the long-run relationship between consumption, financial wealth and labor income during the examined period. Third, and perhaps most interestingly, this paper finds that before the 1997 Asian financial crisis, households in Korea had difficulty smoothing their consumption over time. This finding may be at least partly attributable to households’ limited access to bank loans and their low level of financial wealth accumulation prior to the crisis. In contrast, we find little evidence that households’ consumption behavior has changed during the recent global financial crisis.     

Investment Experience,Financial Literacy,and Investment‐Related Judgments

This research examines how investment experience and financial literacy impact investment‐related judgments. Financial literacy refers to a person's knowledge of fundamental financial concepts. I begin by documenting investors' demographic characteristics and financial literacy using a relatively large sample of participants (n > 2,000) recruited from Amazon's Mechanical Turk under different categories of investment experience, which I benchmark against national samples of financial capability skills in the United States. I then replicate a sample of three accounting research experiments, varying the type and depth of the underlying accounting issue. Across the three experiments, the data show two main results: First, investment experience strengthens the influence of financial accounting disclosures on participants' investment‐related judgments. Second, financial literacy further strengthens the influence of financial accounting disclosures on investors' (but not noninvestors') judgments. Collectively, these findings suggest that investment experience and financial literacy can help to identify individuals who are more likely to be able and willing to study financial reporting information with reasonable diligence as they form their investment‐related judgments.     

Is Financial Literacy Dangerous? Financial Literacy,Behavioral Factors,and Financial Choices of Households

Using original purpose-built 2018 Japanese survey data, we estimate the financial behaviors and attitudes of households. We find that financial literacy plays an important and consistent role in financial decision-making. However, the actual behaviors are counter-intuitive: people with high levels of financial literacy tend to take too many risks, overborrow, and hold naive financial attitudes. That is, financial literacy tends to cause people to become daring and reckless toward some financial aspects. By contrast, financially literate people are better at retirement planning and are indifferent to gambling. Preferences such as risk and loss aversions and discount factors, also play a role in financial choices.     

Firm Productivity,Innovation, and Financial Development

How do firm‐specific actions—in particular, innovation—affect firm productivity? What is the role of the financial sector in facilitating higher productivity? Using a rich firm‐level data set, we find that innovation is crucial for firm performance as it directly and measurably increases productivity. The impact of innovation on productivity is larger in less‐developed countries. Evidence of financial sector development influencing the innovation‐productivity link is weak, but the effect is difficult to identify due to correlation between indicators of a country's financial and nonfinancial development. Furthermore, we find evidence that the innovation effect on productivity is more significant for high‐tech firms than for low‐tech firms.     

金融科技助推经济高质量发展:理论逻辑、实践基础与路径选择

随着互联网、大数据、云计算、人工智能、区块链、5G等新兴技术应用于金融领域,我国金融业正进入全新的数字化时代,金融服务实体经济的广度得以拓宽、深度得以提升。我国金融科技创新领域不断拓展,呈现新态势、新局面。从理论维度来看,金融科技有助于发挥资源配置效应和创新效应,推动经济高质量可持续发展;从实践维度来看,金融科技通过提升传统金融业务服务实体经济的能力和助推资产管理业务脱虚向实,为推动经济高质量可持续发展创造了客观现实条件。未来我国应积极深入推进金融科技体制机制改革以推动金融科技可持续发展,加强金融科技研发以提升金融科技核心竞争力,加强金融科技风险防范管理以推动金融科技稳定发展,为推动我国经济高质量发展提供重要能量。     

我国金融工程发展的现状、问题与对策分析

金融工程是随着世界经济环境的变化和全球金融的创新发展起来的。当前,我国金融工程还处于起步阶段,其发展还存在着一系列问题。为了有效地解决这些问题,我国必须加快金融体制改革,稳步建立金融市场化体系;健全国家金融监控体系,增强抵御风险能力;加强金融信息系统建设,提高金融部门的运营水平;建立金融风险防范系统,努力规避和化解金融风险;加大金融工程的创新力度,不断增强金融行业抵御风险的能力;注重相关部门的合作,强化信用体系建设。只有这样,才能使我国的金融工程快速、有序、健康地发展。     

黑龙江省农村金融服务体系存在问题及其对策

文章通过对黑龙江省农村金融服务情况的基本分析,金融服务体系现存问题的透视及成因探究,在总结农村金融发展经验基础上,从资金供给、机构体系设置、金融服务品质等方面,提出了改革和完善黑龙江省农村金融服务体系的发展对策。     

大珠三角金融产业圈的发展现状、问题与对策

大珠三角金融产业圈具有金融合作的紧密性不断加强、合作内容和层次不断提高,香港核心有秩序金融空间扩散、金融圈从小到大的扩展路径正在形成等特点。同时,存在金融协调机制不健全、金融合作层次不高、体制磨擦性较大,银行业务合作面临诸多障碍等问题。主在对策:建立多层次金融合作机制,加快金融产业一体化,加强金融业务的全面合作,穗深港三地的定位上应各有侧重分工协作,推动金融人才交流等。     

Equity,Bonds, Institutional Debt and Economic Growth: Evidence from South Africa

We examine the finance‐growth nexus in South Africa accounting for the role of bond markets, stock markets, and bank and non‐bank financial intermediaries using a vector autoregressive technique. Extant empirical literature has largely accounted for only banks and stock markets, ignoring bond market and non‐bank financial intermediaries. We find that bond market development affects economic growth in South Africa, and no similar effect is observed for the bank and non‐bank financial intermediaries and the stock market. Our finding shows that examination of individual elements of the financial system is important in understanding the unique effect of each on growth. The observation that the bond market rather than stock market, bank and non‐bank institutions promote economic growth in South Africa induces an intriguing question as to what unique roles bond markets play that the intermediaries and equity market are unable to play.     

Monetary policy flexibility,risk management,and financial disruptions

This paper argues that the monetary policy that is appropriate during an episode of financial market disruption is likely to be quite different than in times of normal market functioning. When financial markets experience a significant disruption, a systematic approach to risk management requires policymakers to be preemptive in responding to the macroeconomic implications of incoming financial market information, and decisive actions may be required to reduce the likelihood of an adverse feedback loop. The central bank also needs to exhibit flexibility—that is, less inertia and gradualism than would otherwise be typical—not only in moving decisively to reduce downside risks arising from a financial market disruption, but also in being prepared to take back some of that insurance in response to a recovery in financial markets or an upward shift in inflation risks.     

Monetary Union, institutions and financial market integration: Italy, 1862–1905

Years into the single currency, EMU financial markets are not fully integrated. We argue that the phenomenon can be better understood by looking at financial markets’ behavior in the wake of Italy’s monetary unification (1862). Variables such as the spread of the telegraph, trade volumes, and the diffusion of the ‘single currency’ fail to explain why it took 25 years for prices across regional stock exchanges to converge. A single Italian financial market appeared only when the State prevailed upon local vested interests by enforcing nation-wide financial market legislation.     

Financial systems, risk management, and entrepreneurship: historical perspectives

Economic historians find that the most successful economies of history tend to be ones that early in their modern histories developed sophisticated financial systems that subsequently sustained their development and growth. Financial economists are finding the same association of financial development and growth across a wider range of countries and levels of economic development in recent decades. This essay argues that more sophisticated financial systems not only mobilize more capital and allocate capital more efficiently than do less developed systems. By offering more sophisticated methods of managing and reducing risks than primitive financial systems, modern financial systems, perhaps paradoxically, also promote higher levels of risk taking and entrepreneurship.