The Financial Systems of Industrial Countries

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

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2. Financial Systems: Introduction and Summary

   • Riccardo De Bonis, Alberto Franco Pozzolo

   Pages 1-14

3. The Origins of Financial Accounts in the United States and Italy: Copeland, Baffi and the Institutions

   • Riccardo De Bonis, Alfredo Gigliobianco

   Pages 15-49

4. Private Sector Debt Matters Too: Theoretical Perspectives on Credit and the Building of Financial Accounts

   • Riccardo Massaro

   Pages 51-89

5. Household Wealth in a Cross-Country Perspective

   • Laura Bartiloro, Massimo Coletta, Riccardo De Bonis, Andrea Mercatanti

   Pages 91-125

6. Should Household Wealth and Government Liabilities Include Future Pension Rights?

   • Gabriele Semeraro

   Pages 127-156

7. Financial Sector Dynamics and Firms’ Capital Structure

   • Laura Bartiloro, Giovanni di Iasio

   Pages 157-182

8. Convergence of Financial Structures in Europe: An Application of Factorial Matrices Analysis

   • Valter Di Giacinto, Luciano Esposito

   Pages 183-215

9. The Effects of Monetary Policy in the Euro Area: First Results from the Flow of Funds

   • Riccardo Bonci

   Pages 217-247

10. Imbalances in Household, Firm, Public and Foreign Sector Balance Sheets in the 2000s: A Case of “I Told You So”?

    • Luigi Infante, Alberto Franco Pozzolo, Roberto Tedeschi

    Pages 249-274

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the financial systems of major industrialized countries using the statistical framework of the financial accounts. After a discussion of how economists agreed to create a framework to monitor the financial linkages between surplus and deficit sectors, the book analyzes in detail the composition and the recent evolution of financial assets and liabilities for households (including public pension rights), firms and intermediaries. Next, the volume studies the convergence patterns of financial structures and their influence on the effectiveness of monetary policy within European countries. The final chapter unifies the previous pictures, showing how the effects of financial integration and global imbalances could have been foreseen based on the financial accounts. The analysis and information contained in the book will help the readers to understand many issues and challenges raised by the recent financial crisis.

• financial intermediaries' balance sheets
• financial systems
• firms' financing and investment
• global imbalances
• household wealth and debt

• , Economic and Financial Statistics, Bank of Italy, Rome, Italy

  Riccardo De Bonis

• , Science Economiche Gestionali e Sociali, Università degli Studi del Molise, Campobasso, Italy

  Alberto Franco Pozzolo

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