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Understanding Latin America’s Financial Inclusion Gap - Working Paper 367

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  • Liliana Rojas-Suarez and Maria Alejandra Amado
Abstract
This paper analyzes Latin America’s Financial Inclusion Gap, the difference between the average financial inclusion for Latin America and the corresponding average for a set of comparator countries. At the country level, we assess four types of obstacles to financial inclusion: macroeconomic weaknesses, income inequality, institutional deficiencies and financial sector inefficiencies. A key finding of this paper is that although the four types of obstacles explain the absolute level of financial inclusion, institutional deficiencies and income inequality are the most important obstacles behind the Latin America’s financial inclusion gap. From our analysis at the individual level, we find that there is a Latin America-specific effect of education and income. The results suggest that the effect of attaining secondary education on the probability of being financially included is significantly higher in Latin America than in its comparators. Furthermore, the difference in the probability of being financially included between the richest and the poorest individuals is significantly higher in Latin America than in comparator countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Liliana Rojas-Suarez and Maria Alejandra Amado, 2014. "Understanding Latin America’s Financial Inclusion Gap - Working Paper 367," Working Papers 367, Center for Global Development.
  • Handle: RePEc:cgd:wpaper:367
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Hayot Berk Saydaliyev & Lee Chin & Yessengali Oskenbayev, 2020. "The nexus of remittances, institutional quality, and financial inclusion," Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(1), pages 3528-3544, January.
    2. Mohammad Ajmal Hameed & Mohammad Mafizur Rahman & Rasheda Khanam, 2023. "Analyzing the Consequences of Long-Run Civil War on Unemployment Rate: Empirical Evidence from Afghanistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-21, April.
    3. Granda, Catalina & Hamann, Franz & Tamayo, Cesar E., 2019. "Credit and saving constraints in general equilibrium: A quantitative exploration," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 302-319.
    4. Md Abdullah Omar & Kazuo Inaba, 2020. "Does financial inclusion reduce poverty and income inequality in developing countries? A panel data analysis," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 9(1), pages 1-25, December.
    5. Ichraf Ouechtati, 2020. "The Contribution of Financial Inclusion in Reducing Poverty and Income Inequality in Developing Countries," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 10(9), pages 1051-1061, September.
    6. Ms. Era Dabla-Norris & Yixi Deng & Anna Ivanova & Ms. Izabela Karpowicz & Ms. Filiz D Unsal & Eva VanLeemput & Joyce Wong, 2015. "Financial Inclusion: Zooming in on Latin America," IMF Working Papers 2015/206, International Monetary Fund.
    7. Eduardo A. Cavallo & Tomás Serebrisky & Verónica Frisancho & Jonathan Karver & Andrew Powell & Diego Margot & Ancor Suárez-Alemán & Eduardo Fernández-Arias & Matías Marzani & Solange Berstein & Marian, 2016. "Saving for Development: How Latin America and the Caribbean Can Save More and Better," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 94597 edited by Eduardo A. Cavallo & Tomás Serebrisky, February.
    8. Sezard Timbi & Mohammadou Nourou & Zedou Abdala, 2024. "Governance Mediates the Effect of Remittances on Financial Inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 2874-2894, March.
    9. Mahamat Ibrahim AHMAT-TIDJANI & Brou Emmanuel AKA, 2022. "Financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa: Benchmarking against peer developing countries," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(4(633), W), pages 117-132, Winter.
    10. Izabela Karpowicz, 2016. "Financial Inclusion, Growth and Inequality: A Model Application to Colombia," Journal of Banking and Financial Economics, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 2(6), pages 68-89, June.
    11. Cavallo, Eduardo A. & Serebrisky, Tomás & Frisancho, Verónica & Karver, Jonathan & Powell, Andrew & Margot, Diego & Suárez-Alemán, Ancor & Fernández-Arias, Eduardo & Marzani, Matías & Berstein, Solang, 2016. "Saving for Development: How Latin America and the Caribbean Can Save More and Better," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 7677, November.
    12. Anh L.N. Ngo, 2019. "Index of Financial Inclusion and the Determinants: An Investigation in Asia," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 9(12), pages 1368-1382, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    financial inclusion; Latin America; government policy and regulation; Findex microdata;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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