The extent and variegation of financialisation in Europe: a preliminary analysis

Abstract

This paper provides a preliminary analisys of the variegated extent of financialisation of European economies since circa 1980. For this purpose, the broad characterisation of financialisation offered by Fine (2012) is adopted. This characterisation identifies eight features of the financialisation proccess. We focus in particular on the financial sector within a selection of Europeam economies. Data show that the financialisation process is not reflected in the share of employment in the financial sector. This is likely to be the result of the labour-saving nature of technological and organisational innovations introduced in the financial sector in the last two decades.Este artículo proporciona un análisis preliminar del heterogéneo proceso de financiarización acontecido en las economías europeas desde 1980. Para ello, se adopta el enfoque amplio de financiarización definido por Fine (2012) que identifica ocho elementos significativos en dicho proceso; más concretamente, nos centramos en el análisis del tamaño del sector financiero en una selección de países europeos.