Does Finance Benefit Society?

Zingales, Luigi

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2585194

Download This Paper

Open PDF in Browser

Add Paper to My Library

Does Finance Benefit Society?

Chicago Booth Research Paper No. 15-09

45 Pages Posted: 27 Mar 2015

See all articles by Luigi Zingales

Luigi Zingales

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

There are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: January 1, 2015

Abstract

Academics' view of the benefits of finance vastly exceeds societal perception. This dissonance is at least partly explained by an under‐appreciation by academia of how, without proper rules, finance can easily degenerate into a rent‐seeking activity. I outline what finance academics can do, from a research point of view and from an educational point of view, to promote good finance and minimize the bad.

Keywords: financial development, financial integration, rent seeking

JEL Classification: G00, 043

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Zingales, Luigi, Does Finance Benefit Society? (January 1, 2015). Chicago Booth Research Paper No. 15-09, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2585194 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2585194