Pil Berner Strandgaard
Title: ‘From golden to gilded? Financialization and real sector development in the Danish economy 1945-2011’
Supervisor: Professor Dr. Jan A. Kregel
Opponent: Caetano Penna, MA
Defense: 1 March 2013
Abstract: This paper provides an overview of the developments in the Danish economy between 1945 and the present. It focuses on trends in the financial sector, which have evolved during the time period and on the growth trends for the real economy as indicated by GDP growth, productivity growth and the investment rate. By utilizing theories of financialization, financial instability and other theories on the relationship between finance and real sector development, it attempts to understand the inter-sectoral relationships. Methodologically it relies on long-term statistical data. Some of it has been compiled specifically for this paper, other has been readily available but not for the entire period analyzed in the paper. This lack of quality and consistency limits the scope of the conclusions. However, it does provide a basis for the analysis of the long-term structural developments in the Danish economy in a period where the financial sector has increased its share of the economy while the real sector has seen falling rates of development.
Keywords: Financialization, financial instability, investment rate, real and financial sector relationships.
