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The main purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between financial inclusion and financial stability in South Asian countries.

To measure the financial inclusion, a multidimensional time-varying index is constructed following the Human Development Index method. The long-run relationship between financial inclusion and financial stability is examined by using the panel cointegration test, fully modified ordinary least squares and dynamic ordinary least squares approaches to show the long-run elasticity of explanatory variables on dependent variables. Further, Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality test is used to find the direction of causality between financial inclusion and financial stability. Data set is of annual frequency of seven countries for the period from 2004 to 2018.

The empirical findings of this study confirm that financial inclusion has a positive and statistically significant impact on financial stability. These results suggest that South Asian countries can attain long-run financial stability by improving the coverage of financial inclusion. Further, panel causality test shows a unidirectional causality from financial inclusion to financial stability.

The major limitation of the study is the availability of time series data for all important variables. Various socioeconomic variables can be used to measure financial stability, but this study included only the Z-score as the proxy for financial stability. Due to the data constraint, this study is unable to use the time series econometric analysis.

As the study confirms that financial inclusion is one of the main drivers of financial stability, it is suggested that the policymakers should emphasize on financial sector reforms to enjoy financial stability in the long run, especially in developing countries. So governments and policymakers of study countries need to address the issues involved in access to financial services to increase financial stability. Furthermore, it is also important to remove limitations of access to formal financial services for marginalized sections of the society with proper supervisions.

This is a new contribution on the present topic. This study has constructed a new multidimensional financial inclusion index (FII) following the Human Development Index method for South Asian countries based on annual data and using ten indicators of formal financial services related to availability, accessibility and usage. To the best of the authors’ knowledge and information, this is the first study on South Asian countries to construct and apply the new multidimensional FII. Further, the study examines the long-run elasticity of financial inclusion on financial stability employing FMOLS and DOLS approach.

The aim of the paper is to examine the status and determinants of financial inclusion in India by using the recent micro-level survey data.

The authors construct a multidimensional financial inclusion index to measure the status of financial inclusion in the selected 17 states of India. Subsequently, the authors use the probit model estimation to examine the determinants of all financial inclusion indicators.

The authors find that southern and north-eastern states perform better in the overall financial inclusion index. In contrast, states like Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh lag behind. The estimated result shows that the probability of being financially included is higher among urban, richer, educated and salaried individuals. Further, the findings indicate the lower penetration of bank branches and ATMs in the rural parts of the country.

While numerous studies have explored financial inclusion from a macro-level perspective, there exists a notable gap in the literature at the micro-level. This paper aims to address this gap and contributes to the existing literature in two ways. Firstly, it uses the recent micro-level survey data to construct a multidimensional financial inclusion index for the selected Indian states. Secondly, it examines individual-level attributes as the determining factors of financial inclusion, which has been overlooked in India.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-03-2023-0162

The purpose of this study is to measure the availability, accessibility and usability of financial products and services in both rural and urban India from 1991 to 2014.

This paper uses principal component analysis (PCA) method to construct financial inclusion index that serves as a proxy variable for indicating the inclusiveness of financial products and services among the rural and urban people. To fulfill this objective, the study proposes separate indexes of financial inclusion for both rural and urban India from 1991 to 2014. The paper uses annual time series data from 1991 to 2014 to construct the rural-urban financial inclusion index. The used data have been collected from the basic statistical returns of Reserve Bank of India and Economic Political Weekly research foundation.

The study inferences that though there is a remarkable increase in financial inclusion in India from 1991 onwards, it does not result in sizeable growth of financial access to rural masses in comparison to urban masses. The rural India does not substantiate an equivalent growth to that of urban India, contrasting a perceptible increase in financial inclusion. The finding of this study will help the researchers and policymakers to understand the status of financial inclusion in the context of both rural and urban India. Furthermore, policymakers can take appropriate policy initiatives to fulfill the financial inclusion gap that exists between rural and urban people. Additionally, the proposed index is easy to compute and can be used to make comparison across countries for further studies.

The present paper attempts to include all possible dimensions (and indicators within a dimension) that have been considered so far by various authors. Therefore, the authors hope that this index will be more indicative and accurate than previous index. Again, the authors propose to use PCA for the first time to assign the weight of factors in the financial inclusion index for rural and urban India separately.

This study aims to develop and apply a multidimensional measure of financial inclusion (FI) to address measurement issues and determine the level of FI of rural smallholder farmers and the contribution of domain indicators to the level of FI in Nigeria.

The paper adapts the Alkire–Foster method to develop a multidimensional FI index (MFII). A stratified two-stage sampling procedure is used to select 2,300 rural respondents from the 2016 Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) Smallholder Household Survey.

Results indicate that 78% of rural smallholder farmers in Nigeria are financially excluded. In addition, owning a formal account is significantly different (p < 0.00) from being financially adequate. The financial capability domain contributes the least (29.66%) to the multidimensional FI (MFI) of rural smallholder farmers relative to financial participation and financial well-being. Financial literacy, consumer protection, overcoming barriers such as high transaction costs and financial planning indicators contribute the least to FI relative to formal access.

Results of the study lead to policy recommendations for increasing the FI of rural smallholder farmers in Nigeria, which may be applicable to other countries.

Achieving sustainable FI requires that interventions increase the FI of rural smallholder farmers by strengthening financial capability, participation and well-being and not only focus on formal account owners.

The study provides a new methodological and empirical contribution to the FI literature on rural smallholder farmers.

This paper proposes a new multi-dimensional financial inclusion index.

The authors employ two-stage principal component analysis (PCA) and aggregating indicators of availability, access and use. The paper first assesses the cross-country variations in the index and analyses trends over time for a sample of countries members of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) from 2010–2018. Second, it investigates factors that could explain the level of financial inclusion across countries.

The financial inclusion index shows a downward trend for the full sample over the period under investigation; however when splitting the sample by income group, it appears that high- and middle–income countries did not register the same trend. When examining the determinants of financial inclusion for the UfM countries, the authors find that macroeconomic, social and governance factors, as well as banking conditions, matter. Policy-makers in low- and middle-income economies should consider the importance of digital financial inclusion, which is substituting the role to traditional banking system, to close the gap and accelerate its development.

First, the authors provide a new measure of financial inclusion using a three-dimensional index: availability, access and use, for which weights are assigned using PCA. It uses data available for the UfM sample by combining data from different databases in order to include most indicators considered in the literature, as the majority of studies only use single measures (number of bank branches, ownership of a bank account, ratio of credits or deposits to gross domestic product [GDP], etc.). Second, by focussing on UfM countries, the study covers a region that includes both large developed and small developing economies that are connected via financial and trade ties, whilst previous studies generally give global evidence from an international sample with little or no economic ties. Third, splitting the sample by country income groups, the paper presents a more comprehensive representation of the cross-country variation in financial inclusion levels between high- and middle-income economies for this region.

Research on financial inclusion (FI) in Islamic countries has evolved and gained prominence. This study aims to construct an extensive multidimensional FI index to ascertain the level of inclusion and trends in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) countries. Additionally, this study examines the potential role of Islamic finance in improving access to financial services.

Data for the study were collected from databases covering MENA countries for the period 2010–2020. An inclusion index has been constructed using the entropy method.

Key findings indicate that the overall FI has improved in Islamic countries. However, it should be noted that all MENA countries fall within the low or medium levels of the inclusion index. It was observed that insurance access and penetration savings were poor in the Islamic MENA countries.

The authors recommend that policymakers focus on insurance access and saving behaviour in their respective countries. Based upon these observations, policymakers should promote the economic benefits of Islamic finance, which will help improve FI and economic development in Islamic countries. This study emphasises the necessity of policy framework reform to provide Islamic financial services to the poorest in society at low or no cost for better economic benefits.

Most studies tend to overlook important indicators such as insurance, savings and credit penetration while calculating the index. These indicators add value to the existing literature. The majority of prior studies used United Nation Development Programme methodology or principal component analysis for Inclusion Index measurements. The adoption of the entropy weighting method is the novelty of this study.

Focusing on micro-level indicators, we investigate financial inclusion levels in rural China, examining its determinants and impact on household welfare. We construct a financial inclusion index of four essential financial services: savings, digital payments, credit and insurance. We identify factors influencing financial inclusion among Chinese rural households and assess the effects of financial inclusion on household welfare.

With the entropy method, we use data from the 2019 China Household Finance Survey to assess financial inclusion levels in rural China. Determinants and their impact on welfare are analyzed through probit and ordinary least squares models, respectively. Propensity scoring matching is applied to address potential endogeneity.

We reveal that rural households exhibit limited usage of formal financial services, with notable regional disparities. The eastern region enjoys the highest financial inclusion and the central region lags behind. Household characteristics such as family size, education level of the household head, income, employment status and financial literacy significantly influence financial inclusion. Financial inclusion positively impacts household welfare as indicated by household consumption expenditure. The use of different types of financial services is crucial with varying but significant effects on household welfare.

This study offers valuable insights into China’s rural financial inclusion progress, highlighting potential barriers and guiding government actions.

The study aims to find out the impact of financial inclusion and financial development on financial stability using panel data from eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

To achieve the aim of the study, the researcher prepared two indicators of financial inclusion and governance to find out the impact of financial development on the relationship between financial inclusion and financial stability. Data on financial inclusion was obtained from the International Monetary Fund, data on financial development and financial stability were obtained from the World Bank.

The results of the fixed and random effect methods show that financial inclusion has a significant positive effect on financial stability. Additionally, financial development represents a moderating variable in the significant positive effect on the relationship between financial inclusion and stability in the MENA countries.

The current study suffers from some limitations that researchers must be aware of in future research. First, there is an inability to determine qualitative aspects such as time and cost when designing a composite indicator of financial inclusion. Second, due to limited data, we used only eight countries from the MENA. It is suggested to expand the sample to include other countries.

This paper contributes to the related literature between financial inclusion and financial stability by confirming or denying the results of previous studies. Also, to the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the only one that explains the role of financial development in the relationship between financial inclusion and stability in MENA countries, using a composite index to calculate financial inclusion. Finally, the study seeks to focus the attention of the government and policymakers to build a system of financial inclusion that leads to improving financial stability.

This study aims to analyze the long-run dynamic relationship between financial inclusion and economic growth for developing nations.

This study develops a comprehensive financial inclusion index based on the UNDP methodology for 53 developing nations. The authors use second-generation unit root tests, cointegration techniques and an advanced dynamic common correlated effects estimator model called cross-sectional augmented autoregressive distributed lags (CS-ARDL) to examine long-run dynamics among variables.

The tests confirm the presence of slope-heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependency. The second-generation panel unit root tests show the chosen variables are stationary at first difference. The bootstrap Westerlund cointegration result shows the variables are cointegrated in the long run. The CS-ARDL estimates conclude that financial inclusion positively enhances gross domestic product per capita in selected developing countries. The robustness check through augmented mean group estimation validates the findings.

The study makes three important contributions: first, it constructs a comprehensive financial inclusion index using 10 variables for a panel of 53 developing nations; second, the potential cross-section dependence and slope heterogeneity of panel data have been accounted for by applying the second-generation unit root tests; third, the study uses the dynamic common correlated effects estimator model (CS-ARDL) to examine long-run dynamics among variables.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the determinants of financial inclusion among women-owned informal enterprises in India.

The study is based on a primary survey of 321 informal enterprises. The data has been collected through a structured questionnaire. A chi-square test has been used to examine the significant association between the characteristics of informal enterprises and their owners and financial inclusion. A logistic regression model has been developed to analyse the determinants of financial inclusion among women-owned informal enterprises.

A significant and negative association has been found between business duration and entrepreneurs’ experiences with financial inclusion. In addition, the chi-square test shows a significant association between resource capability, use of ICT by enterprises and financial inclusion. Further, logistics regression shows that duration of business, entrepreneurial experience, resource capability in terms of machinery and equipment use, and ICT are significant determinants of financial inclusion among women-owned informal enterprises.

There are several practical implications for national policymakers and other stakeholders, such as banks and international bodies working on financial inclusion. It is suggested that while designing the policy for financial inclusion among woman-owned informal enterprises, it should ensure that experience and older woman entrepreneurs are included in financial inclusion schemes.

There has been very few research on financial inclusion in woman-owned businesses. However, no research has been conducted on the financial inclusion of women-owned informal businesses. This study fills a gap by investigating the factors that influence financial inclusion in women-owned informal businesses.