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Credit vs. Payment Services: Financial Development and Economic Activity Revisited

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Author Info

  • Ricardo Bebczuk

    () (Universidad de La Plata, University of Illinois)

  • Tamara Burdisso

    () (Central Bank of Argentina)

  • Máximo Sangiácomo

    () (Central Bank of Argentina)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to assess whether the banking system, over and beyond its credit function, has a significant impact on per capita GDP by providing means of payment. An annual database of 85 countries spanning the 1980-2008 period is exploited to this end. On the descriptive front, we find that richer economies exhibit higher and increasing levels of demand deposits and lower levels of currency than poor countries. While this was to be expected, more surprising is the fact that the currency to GDP ratio did not decrease much over time, regardless of income level differences. In turn, our regressions confidently support the hypothesis that banks contribute to economic development not only as credit suppliers but also by facilitating transactions. Specifically, along with the ratio of private credit to GDP, the ratio of demand deposits to currency seems to exert a positive influence on per capita GDP. The results are robust for different model specifications. These findings have valuable implications for a better understanding of the channels through which the banking system affects the economy.

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File URL: http://www.bcra.gov.ar/pdfs/investigaciones/WP_56_2012i.pdf
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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Central Bank of Argentina, Economic Research Department in its series BCRA Working Paper Series with number 201256.

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Length: 35 pages
Date of creation: Jul 2012
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:bcr:wpaper:201256

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Keywords: banking system; credit; growth; means of payment;

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  1. Kapetanios, G. & Pesaran, M. Hashem & Yamagata, T., 2011. "Panels with non-stationary multifactor error structures," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 160(2), pages 326-348, February.
  2. M. Hashem Pesaran & Takashi Yamagata, 2005. "Testing Slope Homogeneity in Large Panels," CESifo Working Paper Series 1438, CESifo Group Munich.
  3. Pesaran, M. Hashem & Smith, Ron, 1995. "Estimating long-run relationships from dynamic heterogeneous panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 79-113, July.
  4. M. Hashem Pesaran & Aman Ullah & Takashi Yamagata, 2008. "A bias-adjusted LM test of error cross-section independence," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 11(1), pages 105-127, 03.
  5. Stephen G. Cecchetti & Marion Kohler & Christian Upper, 2009. "Financial Crises and Economic Activity," NBER Working Papers 15379, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  6. Kao, Chihwa, 1999. "Spurious regression and residual-based tests for cointegration in panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 1-44, May.
  7. Djankov, Simeon & McLiesh, Caralee & Shleifer, Andrei, 2007. "Private credit in 129 countries," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 299-329, May.
  8. Im, Kyung So & Pesaran, M. Hashem & Shin, Yongcheol, 2003. "Testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 53-74, July.
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