Financial Structure in Chile: Macroeconomic Developments and Microeconomic Effects

The objectives of this paper are, first, to describe the developments in Chilean financial markets at the macroeconomic level and, then, to examine their effects at the level of firms. First, the paper describes the remarkable changes in the size, activity, and efficiency of the banking sector and other capital markets (bond, stock, pension and insurance markets) during 1980s and 1990s. Then, the paper analyzes econometrically the access to financial markets, the financing (balance-sheet) structure, and the revenue growth performance in a sample of 79 Chilean firms during the period 1985-1995.