Is there a link between the structure of savings and growth?

We characterise each OECD country by the proportion of risk-free savings in total savings (this proportion is the share of monetary assets and public sector bonds in the financial assets of households and institutional investors – insurers and pension funds). We seek to determine whether countries where the proportion of risky financial assets in financial wealth is higher (where savers’ risk aversion is lower) have faster productivity gains than other countries. The idea is that in these countries it would be easier to finance innovation, risky investments, start-ups, equity, etc., while in countries where savings are risk-free, this bias cannot be completely corrected by financial intermediaries. We see that countries where the proportion of risk-free savings is high have, on average, low R&D spending and a small number of patents filed as well as low productivity gains. Japan is in a different position, with a high level of research and innovation despite a very high proportion of risk-free savings.