A sound and efficient financial system is an indispensable ingredient of economic growth. It consists primarily of banks and capital markets, which channel savings into investments and other productive activities that contribute to economic growth and augment the economy's productive capacity....

The central objective of our paper is to empirically examine the relationship between financial development and income inequality. Theoretically, there are grounds for both a positive and negative relationship between the two variables. Our main finding is that financial development contributes...

Economic theory suggests that sound and efficient financial systems - banks, equity markets, and bond markets - which channel capital to its most productive uses are beneficial for economic growth. Sound and efficient financial systems are especially important for sustaining growth in developing...