The Macroeconomic Consequences of
Financialisation
A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Ibrahim Naser Khatatbeh
BSc Risk Management and Insurance (Hashemite University)
MSc Finance (University of Jordan)
School of Economics, Finance and Marketing
College of Business
RMIT University
November 2019
II
Declaration
I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of the author
alone; the work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other
academic award; the content of the thesis is the result of work which has been carried out since
the official commencement date of the approved research program; any editorial work, paid or
unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged; and, ethics procedures and guidelines
have been followed.
Ibrahim Naser Khatatbeh
November 22, 2019
III
Publications
Based on the research carried in this thesis, the following paper has been presented at a
conference:
Khatatbeh, I. (2019) Financialisation and Income Inequality: An Extreme Bounds Analysis,
32nd PhD Conference in Economics and Business, Australian National University-Australia.
No other research findings extracted from this thesis have been published or presented
elsewhere to date.
IV
Dedication
To the Memory of My Late Father
and
To a Proud Mother
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Acknowledgments
﷽ ﷽ ﷽ ﷽ ﷽
(In the name of Allah, the most gracious and the most merciful)
“Allah has revealed to you the book and the wisdom, and he has taught you what you did not
know, and Allah's grace on you is very great” (4:113).
Praise and glory be to Allah, the Almighty God, for giving me the courage and guidance to
finish this thesis. Prayers and peace be upon his prophet Muhammad.
Words are not enough to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Imad Moosa, whose
door was always open to my questions and ideas. I am grateful to Professor Moosa for his
unstinting support, encouragement, inspiration and patience during my PhD journey. He is an
inspiration to all those who knows him and a “maverick” economist. Thanks are also due to
my second supervisor, Dr Larry Li.
I would like to thank and acknowledge my sponsor, the Hashemite University, for the financial
support that made this study possible. Also, my sincere thanks go to the academic and
administrative staff at the Hashemite University for their continuous support. I am also grateful
to Dr Peter Sivey for nominating me to represent RMIT University at the 32nd PhD conference
of Economics and Business at Australian National University, Canberra, and the grant which
covered the related expenses.
I owe my deepest gratitude to my family for providing unconditional love and support. I am
grateful to my mother and guardian angel, Khazneh Bani Melhem, for the love, prayers and
sacrifices that made me who I am. Thanks to my brothers and sisters, Maison, Hani,