In the past thirty years the financial sector has seen unparalleled growth and has exerted increased economic and political influence and significance. This growth has come hand-in-hand with several serious economic crises and greater monetary instability. Set against this background, this...

This paper investigates the causes of the "vanishing effect of finance" detected in recent studies. The results highlight that the negative effect of the financial system on growth is mainly driven by advanced economies, whereas finance is still beneficial for income increases in developing...