This new database of indicators of financial development and structure across countries and over time unites a range of indicators that measure the size, activity, and efficiency of financial intermediaries and markets.Beck, Demirguc-Kunt, and Levine introduce a new database of indicators of financial development and structure across countries and over time.This database is unique in that it unites a variety of indicators that measure the size, activity, and efficiency of financial intermediaries and markets.It improves on previous efforts by presenting data on the public share of commercial banks, by introducing indicators of the size and activity of nonbank financial institutions, and by presenting measures of the size of bond and primary equity markets.The compiled data permit the construction of financial structure indicators to measure whether, for example, a country's banks are larger, more active, and more efficient than its stock markets.These indicators can then be used to investigate the empirical link between the legal, regulatory, and policy environment and indicators of financial structure. They can also be used to analyze the implications of financial structure for economic growth.Beck, Demirguc-Kunt, and Levine describe the sources and construction of, and the intuition behind, different indicators and present descriptive statistics.This paper - a product of Finance, Development Research Group - is part of a broader effort in the group to understand the determinants of financial structure and its importance to economic development. The authors may be contacted at [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected].

This new database of indicators of financial development and structure across countries and over time unites a range of indicators that measure the size, activity, and efficiency of financial intermediaries and markets.

A country's level of financial development and the legal environment in which financial intermediaries and markets operate critically influence economic development. In countries whose financial sectors are more fully developed and whose legal systems protect the rights of outside investors, economies grow faster, industries dependent on external finance expand more quickly, new firms are created more easily, firms have more access to external financing, and firms grow faster.

How important is financial development for economic development? A costly state verification model of financial intermediation is presented to address this question. The model is calibrated to match facts about the U.S. economy, such as intermediation spreads and the firm-size distribution for the years 1974 and 2004. It is then used to study the international data, using cross-country interest-rate spreads and per-capita GDP. The analysis suggests that a country like Uganda could increase its output by 140 to 180 percent if it could adopt the world's best practice in the financial sector. Still, this amounts to only 34 to 40 percent of the gap between Uganda's potential and actual output. Charts and tables.

The second issue in a new series, Global Financial Development Report 2014 takes a step back and re-examines financial inclusion from the perspective of new global datasets and new evidence. It builds on a critical mass of new research and operational work produced by World Bank Group staff as well as outside researchers and contributors.

CD-ROM contains: World Bank data.

Over a decade has passed since the collapse of the U.S. investment bank, Lehman Brothers, marked the onset of the largest global economic crisis since the Great Depression. The crisis revealed major shortcomings in market discipline, regulation and supervision, and reopened important policy debates on financial regulation. Since the onset of the crisis, emphasis has been placed on better regulation of banking systems and on enhancing the tools available to supervisory agencies to oversee banks and intervene speedily in case of distress. Drawing on ten years of data and analysis, Global Financial Development Report 2019/2020 provides evidence on the regulatory remedies adopted to prevent future financial troubles, and sheds light on important policy concerns. To what extent are regulatory reforms designed with high-income countries in mind appropriate for developing countries? What has been the impact of reforms on market discipline and bank capital? How should countries balance the political and social demands for a safety net for users of the financial system with potentially severe moral hazard consequences? Are higher capital requirements damaging to the flow of credit? How should capital regulation be designed to improve stability and access? The report provides a synthesis of what we know, as well as areas where more evidence is still needed. Global Financial Development Report 2019/2020 is the fifth in a World Bank series. The accompanying website tracks financial systems in more than 200 economies before, during, and after the global financial crisis (http://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/gfdr) and provides information on how banking systems are regulated and supervised around the world (http://www.worldbank.org/en/research/brief/BRSS).

A pocket edition of the Global Financial Development Database, published as part of the work on the Global Financial Development Report 2013: Rethinking the Role of the State in Finance. It contains 38 indicators of financial development in 205 economies, including measures of (1) financial depth, (2) access, (3) efficiency, and (4) stability of financial institutions and markets.

This new annual publication from the World Bank Group provides an overview and assessment of financial sector development around the world, with particular attention on medium- and low-income countries.

Global Financial Development Report 2015/2016 focuses on the ability of financial systems to sustainably extend the maturity of financial contracts for private agents. The challenges of extending the maturity structure of finance are often considered to be at the core of effective, sustainable financial development. Sustainably extending long-term finance may contribute to the objectives of higher growth and welfare, shared prosperity and stability in two ways: by reducing rollover risks for borrowers, thereby lengthening the horizon of investments; and by increasing the availability of long-term financial instruments, thereby allowing households to address their lifecycle challenges. The aim of the report is to contribute to the global policy debate on long-term finance. It builds upon findings from recent and ongoing research, lessons from operational work, as well as on inputs from financial sector professionals and researchers both within and outside the World Bank Group. Benefitting from new worldwide datasets and information on financial development, it will provide a broad and balanced review of the evidence and distill pragmatic lessons on long-term finance and related policies. This report, the third in the Global Financial Development Report series, follows the second issue on Financial Inclusion and the inaugural issue, Rethinking the Role of the State in Finance. The Global Financial Development Report 2015/2016 will be accompanied by a website worldbank.org/financialdevelopment containing extensive datasets, research papers, and other background materials as well as interactive features.