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1、AccesstoFinancialServices:AReviewoftheIssuesandPublicPolicyObjectivesStijnClaessensThisarticlereviewstheevidenceontheimportanceoffinanceforeconomicwell-being.Itpro-videsdataontheuseofbasicfinancialservicesbyhouseholdsandfirmsacrossasampleofcountries,assessesthedesirabilityofuniver
2、salaccess,andprovidesanoverviewofthemacro-economic,legal,andregulatoryobstaclestoaccess.Despitethebenefitsoffinance,thedatashowthatuseoffinancialservicesisfarfromuniversalinmanycountries,especiallydevelop-ingcountries.Universalaccesstofinancialserviceshasnotbeenapublicpolicyobject
3、iveinmostcountriesandwouldlikelybedifficulttoachieve.Countriescan,however,facilitateaccesstofinancialservicesbystrengtheninginstitutionalinfrastructure,liberalizingmarketsandfacilitatinggreatercompetition,andencouraginginnovativeuseofknow-howandtech-nology.Governmentinterventionst
4、odirectlybroadenaccesstofinance,however,arecostlyandfraughtwithrisks,amongotherstheriskofmissingthetargetedgroups.Thearticlecon-cludeswithrecommendationsforglobalactionsaimedatimprovingdataonaccessanduseandsuggestionsonareasoffurtheranalysistoidentifyconstraintstobroadeningaccess.
5、Financemattersforeconomicdevelopment.Thereisconsiderableevidencetodayforastrongcausalrelationshipbetweenthedepthofthefinancialsystem(asmeasured,forexample,bythesupplyofprivatecreditorstockmarketcapitalization)ontheonehandandinvestment,growth,poverty,totalfactorproductivity,andsimi
6、larindica-torsontheotherhand.Indeed,manyempiricalcross-countrytestshaveshownini-tialfinancialdevelopmenttobeoneofthefewrobustdeterminantsofacountry’ssubsequentgrowth.Financealsomattersforthewell-beingofpeoplebeyondoveralleconomicgrowth.Financecanhelpindividualssmooththeirincome,in
7、sureagainstrisks,andbroadeninvestmentopportunities.Financecanbeparticularlyimportantforthepoor.Recentevidencehasshownthatamoredevelopedfinancialsystemcanreducepovertyandincomeinequality.Muchofthisevidencehasfocusedattentionontheimportanceofoverallfinancialdevelopment.Yetbankingsys
8、temsandcapitalmarkets,especiallyi
