廣納性經濟制度對於工業化是否重要?為了回答該問題,本文探索了日治時期 商業銀行分行網路對於戰後臺灣高速工業化的長期效果。日治時期,絕大多數的商業銀行皆由地方菁英創辦,並於1945年由國民政府接收。雖然戰後銀行 由國家高度控制,殖民時期的金融制度仍然對於工業化以及政府如何促進經濟發展,發揮了深遠的影響。利用1976年到2001年共六次的工商普查資料,本研究發現在1945年鄰近商業銀行分行網路的地區,戰後的工業化程度較為發達,殖民時期的銀行網路對於戰後銀行擴張造成了路徑依賴,故原先於殖民時期鄰近商業銀行網路的地區,戰後傾向有較多的分行,當地廠商更易取得融資、因此有較高的資本投入,並得以透過較高的勞動生產力擴張產能。
Are inclusive economic institutions important for industrialization? This study examines this question by focusing on persistent impacts of Japanese colonial bank system on postwar rapid industrialization in Taiwan. The postwar government inherited most colonial institutions in 1945, including extensive commercial bank networks established by local elites in the colonial era. While postwar banking industry was controlled by the state, the colonial bank institution still played a far-reaching role in this industry and its capacity for boosting rapid industrialization. Using industrial censuses from 1976 to 2001, I find that areas with more nearby bank branches in the colonial era tended to be more industrialized. Effects of the colonial bank institution have persisted through path-dependence of postwar bank expansion. Firms close to the colonial bank networks were more likely to get bank credits and more capitalized, further expanding outputs by increasing labor productivity.