This paper examines the historical origins of the bank-based financial systems in Germany and Japan and the market-based financial system in the US. It critically examines the "timing of industrialization" (TOI) thesis, i.e. the assertion that variation in the current structure of financial...

Long-span time series on credit by institutional sectors and industries are not readily available in Denmark. The paper constructs annual time series for credit to Danish residents by sector and industry 1951-2005 and explores the trends and cycles in credit during the past five decades. There...