Does Financial Structure Matter for Poverty? Evidence from Developing Countries

Kpodar, Kangni ; Singh, Raju Jan

关键词: ACCESS TO CREDIT;    ACCESS TO EDUCATION;    ACCESS TO FINANCE;    ACCESS TO MARKETS;    ACCESS TO SERVICES;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-5915
RP-ID  :  WPS5915

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Although there has been research lookingat the relationship between the structure of the financialsystem and economic growth, much less work has dealt withthe importance of bank-based versus market-based financialsystems for poverty and income distribution. Empiricalevidence has indicated that the structure of the financialsystem has little relevance for economic growth, suggestingthat the same could be true for poverty since growth is animportant driver in reducing poverty. Some theories,however, claim that, by reducing information and transactioncosts, the development of bank-based financial systems couldexert a particularly large impact on the poor. This paperlooks at a sample of 47 developing economies from 1984through 2008. The results suggest that when institutions areweak, bank-based financial systems are better at reducingpoverty and, as institutions develop, market-based financialsystems can turn out to be beneficial for the poor.