Convergence of financial systems: towards an evolutionary perspective

This paper provides an evolutionary perspective on financial systems based on complex systems theory. This perspective is used to organize the discussion about the convergence and non-convergence of financial systems. Based on a notion of financial systems as configuration of complementary elements, it is suggested that the convergence of financial systems is best conceptualized as a path-dependent process of institutional change and innovation. The implication of the evolutionary perspective on the dynamics of financial systems is that neither convergence theories using a simple evolutionary argument of survival of the fittest nor divergence theories related to strong complementarities can provide much guidance for analyzing institutional transformations of financial systems.