Bank Versus Stock Market Development in Brazil: An ARDL Bounds Testing Approach

This paper examines the impact of both bank-based and market-based financial development on economic growth in Brazil during the period from 1980 to 2012. To incorporate all of the aspects of financial development into the regression analysis, the study employs a method of means-removed average to construct both bank-based and market-based financial development indices. Based on the ARDL approach, the empirical results show that there is a positive relationship between market-based financial development and economic growth in Brazil in the long run, but not in the short run. The results also show that bank-based financial development in Brazil does not have a positive effect on economic growth. This applies irrespective of whether the regression analysis is conducted in the short run, or in the long run. The study, therefore, concludes that it is the stock market, rather than banking sector development, that drives long-run economic growth in Brazil.