Financial Sector Ups and Downs and the Real Sector : Big Hindrance, Little Help
This paper examines how financial expansion and contraction cycles affect the broader economy through their impact on eight real economic sectors in a panel of 28 countries over 1960-2005, paying particular attention to large, or sharp, contraction...
Main Authors: | , , |
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Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2012
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20111026090001 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3626 |
Summary: | This paper examines how financial
expansion and contraction cycles affect the broader economy
through their impact on eight real economic sectors in a
panel of 28 countries over 1960-2005, paying particular
attention to large, or sharp, contractions and magnifying
and mitigating factors. Overall, the construction sector is
the most responsive to financial sector growth, with a
number of others -- such as government, public utilities,
and transportation -- also exhibiting significant
sensitivity to lagged financial sector growth. Sharp
fluctuations in the financial sector have asymmetric
effects, with the majority of real sectors adversely
affected by contractions but not helped by expansions. The
adverse effects of financial contractions are transmitted
almost exclusively by the financial openness channel with
foreign reserves mitigating these effects with a sizeable
(10 to 15 times greater) impact during sharp financial
contractions. Both effects are magnified during particularly
large financial contractions (with coefficients on
interaction terms two to three times greater than when all
contractions are considered). Consequent upon a financial
contraction, the most severe real sector contractions occur
in countries with high financial openness; relative
predominance of construction, manufacturing, and wholesale
and retail sectors; and low international reserves. Finally,
the analysis finds that abrupt financial contractions are
more likely to follow periods of accelerated growth,
indicative of "up by the stairs, down by the elevator dynamics." |
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