The Extent and Variegation of Financialisation in Europe: A Preliminary Analysis

Abstract

This paper provides a preliminary analysis 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 process. We focus in particular on the size of the financial sector within a selection of European economies.