Investigating the Effect of Natural Resources Rents and Institutional Quality on Financial Development in Developing Countries

The existence of efficient financial institutions, proper allocation of resources and financial development are the prerequisites for achieving desired economic growth and development. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the factors affecting the financial development of countries. This study examines the impact of natural resources and institutional quality on the financial development of developing countries over 2000-2016 using systemic GMM In this study, we used three indexes for financial development: the Financial Development Index (FDI) developed by IMF, the total credit provided by banks to the private sector as a share of GDP, and the Z-score index. The rent of natural resources is measured as a weighted average of income flows from oil, gas and minerals and Good Governance Indicators are used as measures of institutional quality. The results suggest that natural resources rents have a positive and significant effect on credit provided to the private sector and Financial Development Index, but threaten the stability of the banking sector. In addition, Institutional quality indicators also show a positive effect on three indicators of financial development.