Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/209966 
Year of Publication: 
2010
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 2010/21
Publisher: 
Norges Bank, Oslo
Abstract: 
This paper proposes a reassessment of the old-age debate on universal banking and growth by putting it on a different plan. Modern financial economics are used to provide new theoretical foundations to Gerschenkron's (1962) hypothesis: universality is interpreted as a strategy for banks to reach the critical size needed in order to perform successful securitization of corporate debt. A relevant natural experiment in universal banking and industrialization (Belgium in the 1830s) illustrates the argument. The conclusion is that creating a new financial market also implies establishing intermediaries to supply crucial functions such as underwriting, certification, and liquidity provision.
Subjects: 
universal banking
stock markets
intermediation
financial development
JEL: 
G24
G32
N23
O16
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-82-7553-578-6
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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