Financial Intermediation and the Theory of Agency

Abstract

Intermediation, and in particular financial intermediation, is a frequently observed class of activities for which the literature provides little definition. Although intermediaries exist in major proportions of the economy, a precise characterization of an intermediary's function has not appeared. Rather, the academic and pragmatic literature refer to intermediaries by example, generally agreeing that such institutions as banks, insurance companies, etc., are intermediaries. This research addresses the issue of what an intermediary is; that is, what distinguishes the activity of intermediation from other economic activity.