Purpose This paper aims to examine the key factors determining bank deposit growth in Turkey for the period 2000Q1–2016Q4. Design/methodology/approach The study employs the autoregressive distributed lag approach to investigate the effect of bank-level and macroeconomic factors on deposit growth. Findings The results reveal that bank stability, banking sector efficiency, broad money supply, economic growth, and inflation are significant determinants of deposit growth in the long run. The findings further show that in the short run, only branch expansion and broad money supply are relevant for bank deposit mobilization. Originality/value This paper departs from the extant empirical studies that focus on the determinants of individual savings behaviour in Turkey. Considering the short- and long-run time dimensions, the authors distinctively examine how bank characteristics influence deposit growth, thus presenting a relatively pioneering attempt in this context.

PurposeThis study seeks to investigate the impact of financial intermediation on economic growth in Turkey using annual data spanning 1970–2017.Design/methodology/approachBased on the results of the augmented Dickey–Fuller and Phillips–Perron unit root tests for stationarity, the authors employ the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing to cointegration to establish the long-run impact of financial intermediation alongside other control factors on economic growth. The study also examines the short-run relationship between financial intermediation and economic growth by estimating the Error Correction Model (ECM).FindingsThe authors’ findings indicate that financial intermediation significantly influences economic growth in both short and long run. However, the effect is positive only in the short run, lending support to the supply-leading hypothesis. Regarding the control variables, the authors observe that while financial openness shows a positive significant impact on economic growth in the long run, gross fixed capital formation matters only in the short run. The results further infer that regardless of the time period, inflation impedes economic growth.Originality/valueIn the empirical analysis of the relationship between financial intermediation and economic growth, financial intermediation is always measured using a single variable. The authors argue that such studies could produce bias and misleading results given that a single proxy does not adequately reflect financial intermediation activities. Likewise, such findings may delude policy implementation. To provide a more vivid and robust analysis, the authors employ the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to construct a composite index for financial intermediation based on three broad measures. The researchers’ are unaware of any study on the financial intermediation–economic growth nexus using a composite index of financial intermediation. Thus, this paper fills this lacuna in the literature.