Financial assets - Kinyuushisan

A general term for currency and claims that can be exchanged for currency in the future, issued by a debtor as evidence of debt. A term for real assets such as land, buildings, machinery, and equipment, and specifically includes cash, deposits, bonds, and stocks. According to the classification by J. G. Gurley and E. S. Shaw, financial assets are divided into direct and indirect financial assets. Direct financial assets are debt securities issued by borrowers in direct financing, where borrowers and lenders directly lend and borrow funds, and include corporate bonds, stocks, and bills. Indirect financial assets are debt securities issued by banks or financial intermediaries to raise funds in indirect financing, where banks or financial intermediaries are involved between borrowers and lenders, and include bank deposits, trust deeds, and financial bonds. In the case of indirect financing, the number of financial assets issued increases as the number of intermediary financial institutions increases, and this phenomenon is called the hierarchy of financial assets. In general, the rate of accumulation of financial assets depends on (1) the borrower's degree of dependence on external funds (the extent to which the borrower covers its investment funds from other economic entities), (2) the proportion of external funds that come from indirect financing, (3) the degree of circumvention of indirect financing (the degree of stratification), and (4) the accumulation rate of real assets, which determines the size of investment. The higher the levels of (1) to (4), the higher the accumulation rate of financial assets.

Financial assets can also be classified based on safety, such as safe assets and risky assets. For example, deposits are safe assets, while securities such as bonds and stocks are riskier assets because they are at risk of default due to the issuer's bankruptcy, and there is also the risk that they may fall below the purchase price when sold on the secondary market (market risk). On the other hand, risky assets have a high possibility of generating capital gains from price increases, so they are highly profitable. Furthermore, financial assets that are safe and highly marketable (low costs and short time required to convert them into cash on the market) can be said to have high liquidity.

Economic development under the capitalist system is realized through capital accumulation based on investment activities in the corporate sector, which leads to the accumulation of financial assets through the associated investment fund raising activities. The accumulation of financial assets accompanying economic development after the Second World War, combined with the accumulation of outstanding government bonds in the developed countries of Europe and the United States, has had various economic effects. Many have argued that the accumulation of financial assets in particular impedes the effectiveness of monetary policy. For example, the Radcliffe Report published in the UK in 1959 concluded that the accumulation of financial assets reduces the effectiveness of monetary policy through the increase in general liquidity in the economy, and therefore monetary policy should be broadened to include not only the amount of money but also general liquidity or the entire interest rate system. Gurley-Shaw also argued that traditional monetary policy, which regulates only money, which is merely one type of financial asset, is likely to be undermined by the ability of other financial assets to create loanable funds, and therefore financial intermediaries other than banks, which are indirect financial asset creators, should also be regulated.

[Shigeki Toyama]

"Naoyuki Yoshino and Yasunori Fujita (eds.), Keio University Faculty of Economics Modern Finance Lecture 1: Financial Asset Market Theory (2008, Keio University Press)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

貨幣および将来貨幣に交換請求のできる債権一般のことで、債務者が債務の証票として発行したもの。土地、建物、機械設備などの実物資産に対する用語で、具体的には現金、預金、債券、株式などが含まれている。J・G・ガーリー‐E・S・ショーの分類によると、金融資産は直接金融資産と間接金融資産とに分けられる。直接金融資産は、借り手と貸し手が直接的に資金の貸借を行う直接金融方式の際に、借り手が発行する債務証券で、社債、株式、手形などがこれに含まれる。間接金融資産は、借り手と貸し手の間に銀行や金融仲介機関が介在して資金の貸借が行われる間接金融方式の際に、銀行や金融仲介機関が資金調達のために発行する債務証券で、銀行預金、信託証書、金融債などがこれに含まれる。この間接金融方式の場合、介在する金融機関の数が増大するにつれ発行される金融資産の数も増大するが、この現象は金融資産の階層化とよばれている。一般に、金融資産蓄積率は、(1)借り手の外部資金依存度（借り手が投資資金をどのくらい他の経済主体からまかなうか）、(2)外部資金のうち間接金融方式の占める割合、(3)間接金融の迂回(うかい)の程度（階層化の程度）、(4)投資の大きさを規定する実物資産の蓄積率、に依存しており、(1)～(4)の程度が高いほど金融資産の蓄積率は高くなるのである。

　金融資産はこのほか、安全資産と危険資産というように、安全性を基準として分類することもできる。たとえば、預金は安全資産であるが、これに対して債券や株式などの有価証券は、発行者の倒産などによって債務不履行となる危険があるうえ、流通市場で売却するとき、買い入れた価格より下落している危険（市場リスク）を伴うので、より危険な資産といえる。反面、危険資産は価格上昇による資本利得（キャピタル・ゲイン）を得る可能性も高いから、収益性は大きい。さらに、安全性と市場性（市場での換金に要する費用が小さく時間が短いこと）の高い金融資産は流動性が高いといえる。

　資本主義制度のもとでの経済発展は、企業部門の投資活動に基づく資本蓄積により実現されるが、それに伴う投資資金の調達活動を通じて金融資産の蓄積をもたらす。第二次世界大戦後の経済発展に伴う金融資産の蓄積は、欧米先進国の国債発行残高の蓄積と相まって、さまざまな経済上の影響をもたらした。そのなかでもとくに金融資産の蓄積が金融政策の有効性を阻害するのではないのかという見解が数多く提出された。たとえばイギリスにおいて1959年に発表された「ラドクリフ報告」Radcliffe Reportは、金融資産の蓄積は、経済内の一般的流動性の増大を通じて金融政策の有効性を減殺するゆえ、金融政策の対象は貨幣量のみでなく、一般流動性あるいは利子率体系全体にまで広めるべきであると結論した。また、ガーリー‐ショーも、金融資産の一つであるにすぎない貨幣のみを規制するという伝統的金融政策は、その他の金融資産がもっている貸付資金創出能力により、その効果が損なわれる可能性が大きいゆえ、間接金融資産の創造機関である銀行以外の金融仲介機関も統制すべきであると主張した。

［外山茂樹］

『吉野直行・藤田康範編『慶應義塾大学経済学部現代金融論講座1　金融資産市場論』（2008・慶應義塾大学出版会）』

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