Financial structure: A new aspect of analysis and new results

There is growing evidence that the financial structure depends on the level of economic development of the country. In developed countries, firstly, there is a convergence of financial structures and, secondly, an increase in the share of non-bank financial intermediation sectors in national financial systems. Therefore, we propose to proceed to the analysis of the three-tier structure of the financial sector (banks — non-banking financial institutions — financial markets), for which we have developed new indicators that assess the relationship between a non-bank financial intermediation sector and financial markets. They showed that in the last 7—8 years in Russia there has also been an outstripping growth of this sector. Our regression studies, firstly, have confirmed the conclusion that in Russia the financial structure (in the traditional sense) slows down economic growth and, secondly, allowed us to assume (based on the results of a crosscountry analysis) that the current structure of the Russian financial sector (with a predominant share of banks) contributes to an increase in the volatility of economic growth. The behavior of the new financial structure ratios and regression analysis based on traditional financial structure ratios indicate the need to adjust government policy in the financial sector in order to ensure faster growth of financial markets.