1 The Determinants of Financial Development: Empirical Evidence from Developed and Developing Countries

Countries which initiate economic development, use in the most cases, the mechanisms and tools of the financial sphere to maximize the chances of success of their financial development process. However, some financial, economic and institutional conditions are compulsory for the success of the whole process. In this context, our empirical analysis using panel data is applied on two samples divided among 15 developed and 23 developing countries over a period from 1997 to 2013.The result obtained show that financial development determinants are mainly related to banking and financial sector and the level of economic and human development for both samples. Whereas, the determinants related to economic stability and the legal and institutional framework have a significant impact on financial development only in the developed countries. Key words: financial development, macroeconomic stability, legal and institutional environment, developed and developing countries, panel data 1