3. The financial system’s contribution to growth  3.1  The stock market and institutional investors  Structural reform must also extend to the financial industry. The possibility of direct or indirect recourse to the capital market plays an essential role in facilitating the expansion of firms that have growth potential.
Market access is assisted by the presence of a large stock exchange, a good number of institutional investors and a web of specialized intermediaries. Progress on all these fronts is needed. As we know, the Italian share market is smaller than those of the other advanced countries.