World Bank Global Research Articles

Financial Inclusion in Tanzania Determinants, Barriers, and Impact

Financial inclusion is vital in economic development as it empowers families and communities to meet basic needs, such as nutritious food, clean water, housing, education, and healthcare. Financial inclusion is also a tool for hedging against extreme weather events, disasters, and health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, access to financial services has the potential to alleviate poverty, reduce income inequality, and stimulate economic growth and development. However, there is limited literature regarding the impact of financial inclusion at the household level. According to the latest World Bank Global Findex, the number of financially included adults has risen substantially in Tanzania due to the introduction of mobile money and baking financial inclusion. Based on Tanzania World Bank's Global Findex micro-data set for 2011, 2014, and 2017 surveys, this study uses the ordered probit regression model with endogenous treatment assignment to evaluate factors influencing financial inclusion and estimate the impact of financial inclusion on income in Tanzania. The available literature guided us in selecting the independent variables to include in the financial inclusion and impact models. The applied model allows for correcting for self-selection bias and endogenous effects associated with financial inclusion and income. Self-selection bias can occur when individuals choose whether to participate in a program based on their socioeconomic and demographic circumstances. Due to self-selection, participants often differ from nonparticipants in ways significant to the research, leading to a biased sample, which affects the generalizability of the research results. The results show that formal education and lack of money are the most crucial factor influencing financial inclusion and exclusion. Moving from financial exclusion to inclusion increased the probability of being in the higher income brackets. Personal finance education programs geared towards the most vulnerable groups would improve financial inclusion and income in Tanzania. Results from this study indicate that financial inclusion has a positive impact on income, and thus, it is crucial to enhance the scope coverage via more extensive and swift channels, such as mobile money and baking. Enhanced financial inclusion in Tanzania will lead to higher and quicker integration of the excluded community members into formal financial systems, thereby maximizing the effects of financial inclusion on the poor and the country's economic growth.

Driving Financial Inclusion

This paper examines India's level of digital access to financial services as compared to other Asian countries. The study also intends to analyse whether COVID-19 has influenced the usage trend of the selected digital payment indicators in India. Data has been collected from the World Bank Global Findex Database and RBI bulletins. Cross country descriptive analysis was used for studying India's digital financial access against the other Asian countries. Event study methodology followed by trend analysis was employed to examine whether COVID-19 has impacted the digital payment indicators' usage in India. The findings of the study indicated that India's position in digital financial access needs to be improved. It was further identified that COVID-19 has increased the usage of digital modes for financial transactions in India. There has been a significant increase in the usage volume of mobile banking after the declaration of the pandemic. Govt. can frame its action plans to make use of the opportunity created through the pandemic to improve digital financial access in India.

ФІНАНСОВІ ІНДИКАТОРИ В СИСТЕМІ МОНІТОРИНГУ ЕКОНОМІЧНОЇ БЕЗПЕКИ КРАЇН

The article is devoted to the systematization of financial indicators for assessing the level of countries economic security and defining the role and importance of indicators in the system of economic security monitoring. It is determined that the indicator approach is the most common in terms of assessing and monitoring the level of financial security and allows for effective management of financial risks. In this case, indicators act as measures of the degree of stability, reliability and efficiency of the country's economic system. The authors prove that indicators form the methodological basis for monitoring the level and status of economic and financial security. The indicators are classified according to security subsystems and take into account the peculiarities of their formation. The authors analyze the approaches to systematization of financial indicators used in Ukrainian practice, in particular, within the framework of the official methodology for assessing the level of Ukraine’s economic security, as well as within the methodology for assessing the level of financial stability and sustainability used by the National Bank of Ukraine. Among the approaches developed and implemented at the international level, the author examines the IMF Financial Sustainability Indicators System, the IMF and World Bank Debt Sustainability Framework, The World Bank Global Findex Database, and The system of Financial Indicators for Socioeconomic Development of The World Bank (Open Data). Keywords: financial indicator, economic security, financial security, security monitoring, resilience.

Financial inclusion – does digital financial literacy matter for women entrepreneurs?

PurposeWomen's financial inclusion has become a global research agenda, and past studies provide mixed evidence on the determinants of financial inclusion among women entrepreneurs across the globe. However, the impact of digital financial literacy on women's financial inclusion has seldom been addressed in the past literature.Design/methodology/approachThe authors perform a cross-sectional analysis of 144 countries using the World Bank Global Findex Database.FindingsThis study’s probabilistic regression results indicate that women entrepreneurs with a higher degree of digital financial literacy are more likely to engage in formal banking channels.Practical implicationsThe study findings have practical implications in terms of allowing regulators and banks to draw effective policies to attract women customers. Lack of effective regulatory intervention could lead to women exploring financial crimes, such as money laundering, due to their lack of involvement with the formal banking channel.Originality/valueThe authors explore the impact of digital financial literacy on women's financial inclusion. Such evidence is rare in the existing literature.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-04-2022-0277

Determinants of Non-performing Loans: A Panel Data Approach

This paper considers a panel of 80 countries across all continents, over the period 1999–2019, and uses panel generalized method of moments system estimations with data from the World Bank Global Financial Development database, to explain the evolution of the bank non-performing-loans-to-total-loans ratio. The results obtained provide clear evidence that banks with high profitability, benefiting from market stability and located in countries with increasing economic growth are not expected to have high values of the non-performing-loans-to-total-loans ratio. On the other hand, high values of this ratio are robustly associated with an increase of the bank-cost-to-income ratio, market concentration, and bank regulation. The paper also contributes to the literature by assessing the relevance of the level of each country’s income and economic integration. Overall, the results obtained reveal few differences between high-income and non-high-income countries and between Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries and non-OECD countries. However, considering only the years after the onset of the global financial crisis (2009–2019), there is robust evidence that bank regulation contributed to a decrease in the non-performing-loans-to-total-loans ratio, but only in non-high-income countries and non-OECD countries. Finally, the results for all considered panels, clearly show that the promotion of economic growth is always the best way to assure a decrease in the non-performing-loans-to-total-loans ratio, reducing the likelihood of banking losses as well as potential financial crisis.

Antimicrobial Resistance in Aquaculture Environments: Unravelling the Complexity and Connectivity of the Underlying Societal Drivers.

Food production environments in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are recognized as posing significant and increasing risks to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), one of the greatest threats to global public health and food security systems. In order to maximize and expedite action in mitigating AMR, the World Bank and AMR Global Leaders Group have recommended that AMR is integrated into wider sustainable development strategies. Thus, there is an urgent need for tools to support decision makers in unravelling the complex social and environmental factors driving AMR in LMIC food-producing environments and in demonstrating meaningful connectivity with other sustainable development issues. Here, we applied the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) conceptual framework to an aquaculture case study site in rural Bangladesh, through the analysis of distinct social, microbiological, and metagenomic data sets. We show how the DPSIR framework supports the integration of these diverse data sets, first to systematically characterize the complex network of societal drivers of AMR in these environments and second to delineate the connectivity between AMR and wider sustainable development issues. Our study illustrates the complexity and challenges of addressing AMR in rural aquaculture environments and supports efforts to implement global policy aimed at mitigating AMR in aquaculture and other rural LMIC food-producing environments.

DOES ISLAMIC BANKING PROMOTE FINANCIAL INCLUSION AMONG WOMEN IN OIC MEMBER COUNTRIES?

Previously, women in Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries were reported to be more financially excluded compared to the global average. Hence, this study aims to have a closer look at the aspect of gender inequality in financial inclusion in OIC member countries. Specifically, it seeks to examine the role of Islamic banking in enhancing financial inclusion among women in selected OIC member countries empirically. This study frames its analysis based on annual economic and financial data for OIC member countries from several sources including the World Bank Global Findex and World Development Indicators for each respected country for the years 2011 and 2014 using ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation. The findings show significant improvement in the growth of women’s account penetration for 2014, suggesting Islamic banking deepening has had a positive effect on financial inclusion among women in the OIC member countries under study. The significant positive effect of Islamic banking presence and accessibility of Muslim women to financial services indicates pivotal role of Islamic banking in promoting financial inclusion among women, enhance economic activities for women and reduce gender gap in finance. The finding helps to promote gender equality, empowerment and financial inclusion among Muslim women in OIC countries through Islamic banking services. The findings call for Islamic finance industry players to expand their outreach to Muslim clients and help policymakers to define their role more clearly in expanding financial inclusion, Islamic or otherwise, to Muslim adults.

Financial inclusion and gender income inequalities in informal entrepreneurship: the case of Cameroon

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of access to different financial products in reducing income inequalities between men and women working in the informal sector in Cameroon. To this end, we use the World Bank database World Bank Global Financial Inclusion (Global Findex) dataset 2018 to assess the evolution of access to financial services through a descriptive analysis and the fourth Cameroonian survey conducted by the National Institute of Statistics in 2014 to estimate a probit model and a Fairlie decomposition model. Empirical results suggest that indeed, income inequality between the sexes continues to increase in Cameroon, regardless of the indicator used to measure it. In particular, women working in the informal sector use services such as bank accounts and credit cards more than men, but women also use non-formal financial services the most. Among the inclusion factors of the actors involved, obtaining credit to start a business is a key element for an individual working in the informal sector, yet there are significant gaps in accessing credit between men and women in informal activities and gender inequalities explain 13.96% of this gap. This means that when it comes to accessing credit, men are more financially included than women. These results lead us to make recommendations on economic policies to improve access to credit and expand the use of mobile financial services among women working in the informal sector to reduce income inequality between the sexes in Cameroon.

Financial Inclusion in the BRICS—Evidence from the World Bank’s Latest Findex Survey

The main purpose of this article is to understand the determinants of financial inclusion and the determinates of saving and borrowing behavior in the BRICS. This article uses the data from the World Bank Global Findex. As the dependent variables are binary, the Probit model is used to estimate the model. We find that account ownership has increased significantly, but the use of accounts for formal savings and formal borrowing has not picked up in the BRICS. It is also found that being male, wealthy, more educated, and older is associated with greater financial inclusion. Regarding loan-taking motivation, we find poor people tend to borrow mostly for medical purposes and rich for purchasing land and doing business. These results have important implications for financial inclusion policies in the BRICS. The BRICS economies should generally focus on education-promoting policies to enhance financial inclusion. In addition, the government and the central banks should allocate funds and pay attention to the rural areas and female population to promote financial inclusion.

Determinants of financial inclusion across gender in Saudi Arabia: evidence from the World Bank's Global Financial Inclusion survey

PurposeThis paper investigates the magnitude of financial inclusion in terms of ownership and usage of financial products across gender in Saudi Arabia based on the World Bank's Global Financial Inclusion (GFI) survey data.Design/methodology/approachThis study derives the data from the GFI survey, covering 1,009 respondents from Saudi Arabia. The data on ownership and usage of financial products along with demographic characteristics of the surveyed respondents have been extracted for the analysis. The data have been analyzed with the help of statistical techniques, such as the chi-square test, and marginal effects for identifying the factors affecting financial inclusion across gender.FindingsThere is a significant association between financial inclusion and gender in terms of ownership and usage. About 82% of males have reported having a bank account with financial institutions, whereas only 60% females have reported ownership of a bank account in Saudi Arabia. The ownership and usage of financial products are comparatively more among males than females. The analysis of the marginal effect of gender shows a significant and positive impact on financial inclusion, implying that males are 10 and 13% more likely to own and use financial products, respectively, as compared to females. Further, marginal effect estimates for ownership and usage for males and females indicate that a set of independent variables related to age, level of education, occupation and income level of the respondents have a significant impact on financial inclusion.Practical implicationsFinancial inclusion across gender is the first step of creating an inclusive society and empowering both males and females equally. Findings indicated an inclination of financial inclusion towards males. The research findings provide key policy insights for achieving the Vision 2030 of Saudi Arabia by strengthening gender inclusion in its growth story and ensuring the participation of females at workplaces.Originality/valueMost of the studies have included bank account ownership in a financial institution as an indicator of financial inclusion. The authors have included ownership and usage of a variety of financial products for assessing the determinants of financial inclusion across gender, which provides empirical evidence on the magnitude of financial inclusion.

Impact assessment of country risk on logistics performance using a Bayesian Belief Network model

PurposeThis paper aims to assess the impact of different drivers of country risk, including business environment, corruption, economic, environmental, financial, health and safety and political risks, on the country-level logistics performance.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilizes three datasets published by reputed international organizations, including the World Bank Group, AM Best and Global Risk Profile, to explore interactions among country risk drivers and the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) in a network setting. The LPI, published by the World Bank Group, is a composite measure of the country-level logistics performance. Using the three datasets, a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) model is developed to investigate the relative importance of country risk drivers that influence logistics performance.FindingsThe results indicate a moderate to a strong correlation among individual risks and between individual risks and the LPI score. The financial risk significantly varies relative to the extreme states of the LPI score, whereas corruption risk and political risk are the most critical factors influencing the LPI score relative to their resilience and vulnerability potential, respectively.Originality/valueThis study has made two unique contributions to the literature on logistics performance assessment. First, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to establish associations between country risk drivers and country-level logistics performance in a probabilistic network setting. Second, a new BBN-based process has been proposed for logistics performance assessment and operationalized to help researchers and practitioners establish the relative importance of risk drivers influencing logistics performance. The key feature of the proposed process is adapting the BBN methodology to logistics performance assessment through the lens of risk analysis.

Computational Financial Inclusion Using Machine Learning Techniques: Relationship between Outreach and Usage

Financial inclusion is developing as a global standard for measuring each country’s economic sustainability and growth. The indicators of financial inclusion include the physical accessibility of financial services (outreach) and the people’s use of them (usage). To use the indicators in policy making and development planning, the following question needs to be addressed: If a new development is designed to improve the state of the outreach, what changes can be expected in the usage as a result? This paper excavates this outreach-usage relationship from the International Monetary Fund’s Financial Access Survey data as well as the World Bank Global Findex data using machine learning techniques. The results are compared with the Composite Index scores for confirmation in the correlation.

National Identity Ownership and Financial Inclusion in Uganda

Ownership of a unique and legal identity is crucial for financial inclusion in Uganda as majority of financial service providers demand a national identity (ID) to satisfy the KYC (Know your customer) requirements. This study attempts to examine the effect of ownership of a national ID on financial inclusion in Uganda. The study utilizes the 2017 World Bank Global Findex data and finds that national ID ownership is statistically significant in predicting the likelihood of being financially included in Uganda. With 95% confidence, national ID ownership, phone ownership, education, income quintile, and employment status significantly predict the likelihood of being financially included in Uganda. The study further reveals that an individual who owns a national ID and owns a phone, has secondary school education, is in the richest 20% income quintile, and is in the workforce is more likely to be financially included compared to the same individual without a national ID although the result is not statistically significant. Generally, the study argues that Uganda can boost financial inclusion by harnessing ID ownership among the financially excluded. The study recommends that national ID ownership policies should be integrated with other policies such as human capital development, income equality, employment, and increasing phone ownership in order to achieve efficient outcomes.

Economic growth as an underlying probable systemic driver for childhood obesity in South Africa: A Joinpoint regression and ecological analysis over 10 years.

Childhood obesity has become a global public health problem and is a known risk factor for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, myocardial infarction and various cancers in later adulthood.Associations between adult obesity and economic growth, technological changes, socioeconomic status and economic inequities have been reported, but limited data are available for children and adolescents in countries that are undergoing an epidemiological health transition exhibiting both under- and overnutrition. To demonstrate childhood obesity trends and explore their associations with economic growth in South Africa (SA). This was a retrospective review and analysis of obesity and economic growth trends in SA. Data for obesity levels were obtained from national surveys conducted in SA youths in 2002, 2008 and 2012. Economic growth indicators (EGIs), namely gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, household final consumption expenditure and Gini coefficient, were obtained from the World Bank and IHS Global Insight databases. Obesity trends for 2002 - 2012 are presented by gender and ethnicity. Annual percentage changes (APCs) in obesity prevalence were computed to assess obesity trends using the linear Joinpoint regression. An overall increase in obesity prevalence over time from 3.8% to 6.0% was observed. Females had higher levels across all time points. APCs in both males (7.8%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.3 - 15.9; p=0.01) and females (3.1%; 95% CI -14.7 - 24.7; p=0.30) were observed. Among black Africans, coloureds and whites, females had higher obesity levels than males for the three time points. For males, the prevalence of obesity was highest in whites and Asians/Indians, whereas coloureds and blacks had lower levels across all time points. However, the black male population had the highest APC increase (9.4%; 95% CI -23.0 - 55.3; p=0.20). The prevalence of obesity was positively and inversely associated with GDP per capita and the Gini coefficient, respectively. An increase in childhood and adolescent obesity over time was observed, while trend associations between obesity and EGIs exist.

ОБЩЕСТВЕННЫЙ СЕКТОР: ВЫЗОВЫ ЦИФРОВИЗАЦИИ И ТЕНДЕНЦИИ ТРАНСФОРМАЦИИ

The scientometrics of studies of the public sector shows their growing relevance in the context of meeting the production needs of its subjects through public procurement, the increase in the efficiency of which has not insured the completion of their electronicization. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of electronization on the efficiency of public procurement and to offer software products that provide automation of customer operations. For this reason, a multiple regression model was built based on the World Bank's Global Public Procurement Database, which has proven the greatest impact of the availability of information control systemson the economy.

TESTING ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS, GREEN INNOVATION AND SOCIAL DISTRIBUTION AS DETERMINANTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY: A CASE OF ASEAN REGION

Regulations and policies regarding environment and green and environment friendly innovations play an important role in the reduction in pollution and to make the environment clean to live a better life. In this regard, people play a critical part by following these policies and regulations and by promoting the green innovations. The current study has been designed with the aim to find out and investigate the impact of environmental regulations, green innovation, and social distribution on the environmental sustainability of ASEAN countries. Therefore, the data for the study has been gathered from ASEAN countries covering the period of 29 years. The accuracy of the results obtained by the analysis of data collection has been ensured by the collection of data from World Bank Development Indicators and Global Economy. Various tests and techniques have been applied on the collected data such as panel unit root test, panel cointegration test, FMOLS coefficient estimation and Granger Casualty test. The result obtained by the analysis indicated that all the independent (environmental regulations, green innovation, and social distribution) and control variables (per capita income and human development) have significant impact on environmental sustainability. Moreover, the researcher also found the casual relationships between various variables of the study.

Effects of Financial Inclusion on Access to Emergency Funds for Healthcare in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

BackgroundHaving access to convenient and quality healthcare at all times is not only a human right but also a goal that many countries strive to achieve for their population. However, access to healthcare might face blocks in the presence of financial exclusions. Saudi Arabia has, over the years, continued to pursue policy and system reforms to enhance its population’s access to financial inclusion, as well as proper health coverage to improve health outcomes. This study seeks to estimate the effects of financial inclusion on the financial hardships in accessing healthcare in Saudi Arabia.MethodsThis study uses a nationally representative survey conducted with 1009 adults, using the 2017 World Bank Global Findex Study data. The study estimates the conditional probability of coming up with emergency funds and the conditional probability of borrowing for medical purposes to understand access to healthcare. A composite value is created for financial inclusion using several variables for individuals’ interactions with financial institutions, such as access to financial services and loans.ResultsThe results revealed that financially included individuals have a higher conditional probability of both borrowing for medical purposes and coming up with emergency funds, compared to those who are financially excluded. Additionally, the study showed that individuals in low-income brackets are more likely to be financially excluded and have a reduced chance of coming up with emergency funds and borrowing for medical purposes.ConclusionThese findings indicate that there is need for authorities to roll out a financial inclusion drive that will not only incentivise the financially excluded population to become included but that will also aim at promoting various financial products so that those who are already financially included have a wide range from which they can choose.

Determining the role of digital technology, governance and institutions in advancing financial inclusion in BRICS nations using probit regression analysis

In the era of the industrial revolution, the world has been witnessing a histrionic turnaround owing to the consolidation of several prevalent disruptive forces, especially in the domain of technology. The present study aims at unearthing the role of information and communication technologies, institutional environment and governance characteristics in advancing financial inclusion levels in BRICS nations by extensively using the World Bank's Global Findex Database 2017. For this purpose, the study utilizes data of individual characteristics of 10,627 adult individuals in these economies, country-specific factors such as GDP per capita growth rate, digital financial services (mobile cellular subscriptions and Internet penetration), institutional environment, and governance index. It employs probit regression to achieve the same objective. The findings suggest that Internet usage and mobile penetration rates have a positive association with financial inclusion indicators in BRICS economies. In addition to governance and institutional variables, the study further discovers that individual attributes and economic conditions such as income level, age, education level, gender, and government transfers too could influence financial inclusion indicators in these countries. Hence, it hints towards the need to strike a perfect match between embracing a pro-poor growth, an inclusive financial approach, a technologically developed infrastructure, efficient legal framework and proper administration. Finally, the study advocates that such moves are not an end in themselves rather a means to shoulder the responsibility of creating a new economic order in emerging economies via financial inclusion toolbox.

Financial inclusion dynamics in Southeast Asia: An empirical investigation on three countries

AbstractThis paper examines the determinants of financial inclusion in Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines (VIP). We employ a probit model to the World Bank's Global Findex Dataset of 2017. The analysis compares individuals' access to formal and informal financial services, savings, and credit tools, considering individual socioeconomic characteristics. The study finds significant gaps in financial access between individuals based on gender, age, income, education, location, and job status. Indonesia made more considerable improvements in financial inclusion than the Philippines and Vietnam. Access to savings and credit in the VIP remain low, mainly favoring adults, higher earners, formally employed, and the more educated ones. Females in the VIP have a higher likelihood to be financially included than males, they are more likely to hold savings accounts, to participate in informal finance, while they perceived fewer barriers to formal banking. Formal and informal services coexist in the VIP, while formal financial services often exclude the less privileged. Lack of money, high cost of finance, and perception of financial services as unnecessary are the largest obstacles to inclusion in the VIP, being more burdensome for low‐income and less‐educated people. Mobile banking services have developed yet leave the less‐fortunate people unserved. Age plays a vital role in savings and credit behavior, with the VIP missing to ensure access for young people to services.

Impact of Islamic banking share on financial inclusion: evidence from MENA

PurposeThis study aims to investigate how the Islamic banking share (percentage of total Islamic banking assets relative to total banking sector assets) and individual characteristics (gender, age, income and education) affect financial inclusion in 14 Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries with different income levels.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses data from the 2014 World Bank Global Findex database to analyze the impact of individual characteristics, Islamic banking share and countries’ developmental levels on financial inclusion and its barriers in MENA countries. The probit estimation method is used for estimations.FindingsThe findings indicate that financial inclusion, particularly in middle-income MENA countries, is lower than the global average. While being male, rich and older positively affects financial inclusion in these countries, education does not. Islamic banking practises also contribute to financial inclusion, especially for individuals with strong religious affiliations. The effect of Islamic banking on financial inclusion is found to be greater in middle-income MENA countries.Practical implicationsIslamic banking institutions could play a greater role in promoting financial inclusion in the MENA region by offering Sharia-compliant products that meet individuals’ needs, matching the specific requirements and status of each country with affordable costs and offering adequate information to customers. Governments should promote more Islamic banking and incentivise investments in technology, which helps expand financial inclusion.Originality/valueThis is the first study to examine the influence of Islamic banking share and countries’ levels of development on financial inclusion in the MENA region.