Financial sector development

About: Financial sector development is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1674 publications have been published within this topic receiving 90787 citations.

Banking policy and macroeconomic stability - an exploration

Abstract: Whether and when does banking serve to stabilize the economy? The authors view the banking system as a filter through which foreign and domestic shocks feed through to the domestic economy. The filter can dampen or amplify the shocks through various credit market channels, including credit growth, import of foreign capital, and possibly interest rates. The question is whether the prudential quality of banking, as proxied by measures of regulatory quality and openness to foreign banking, amplify or dampen these shocks. The authors find that many of the regulatory characteristics that have been found to deepen a financial system and make it more robust to crises-notably those which empower the private sector-also appear to reduce the sector's ability to provide short-term insulation to the macro-economy. It is as if prudent bankers are reluctant to absorb short-term risks that, if neglected, might cause solvency and growth problems in the longer run. Forbearance might dampen short-term volatility, but at the expense of the longer run health of the banking sector and the economy. One way to avoid this apparent tradeoff is evident: banking systems which have a higher share of foreign-owned banks, a feature already associated with financial deepening and lowered risk of crisis, also seem to score well in terms of short-term macroeconomic insulation.

Financial inclusion and financial sector development in Sub-Saharan Africa: a panel VAR approach

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dynamic link between financial inclusion and financial sector development (FSD) in Sub-Saharan Africa.,This paper employs a panel vector autoregressive framework to examine the dynamic link between financial inclusion and FSD in Sub-Saharan Africa.,The findings indicate that there is a reverse causality between FSD and financial inclusion in both the Sub-Saharan Africa countries sample and the full sample. It is evident that financial inclusion is a driver of FSD and vice versa.,The practical implication of this study is that financial inclusion should not only be pursued as a policy objective but it could also be an outcome variable of FSD and vice versa. This implies that African economies and governments in their effort to enhance financial inclusion, FSD can serve as a policy tool. This means that policies aimed at promoting financial inclusion will not impede FSD because the two are complementary. This suggests that we can achieve financial inclusion without sacrificing FSD and vice versa.,This paper provides first empirical evidence of the link between financial inclusion and FSD from the Sub-Saharan Africa perspective using data sourced from World Development Indicators spanning from 1990 to 2014 for 48 Sub-Saharan African economies and 217 economies in the world for the full sample.

Microfinance in South Asia : toward financial inclusion for the poor

Abstract: In South Asia, the modern microfinance movement was born in Bangladesh in the 1970s as a response to the prevailing poverty conditions among its vast rural population. Astonishing growth rates in Bangladesh, particularly during 1990s, created a new dimension for microfinance worldwide as microfinance institutions grew to include millions of clients. The start of the Twenty-first century reinforced this trend as the Bangladesh numbers continued to grow impressively; in India, a substantial microfinance system based on Self-Help Groups (SHGs) developed. Other countries of the region made slower and later starts but have since established active microfinance sectors. This working paper includes the following headings: the financial landscape and the emergence of microfinance; limitations and challenges; institutional structures and delivery systems; financing structures; product diversity; transparency and performance; impact and social performance; systems that support microfinance; and conclusions and future perspective.

Sustainability in Asia: The Roles of Financial Development in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Performance

Abstract: It is increasingly evident that rapid development resulted in habitat loss and environmental degradation. Due mainly to this issue, if unchecked, many countries are susceptible to natural disasters. Financial development has been touted as effective in mitigating environmental risks through its role in providing funds for green technologies development. Nonetheless, evidence regarding the impacts of financial development on environment, social, and governance (ESG) is relatively scant, despite being the central pillars in sustainability management. The main objective of this study is to fill the knowledge gap by examining the connection between financial development and ESG performance in Asia. This study used country-level data for the period between 2013 and 2017. The analyses based on the pooled ordinary least squares technique, the fixed effects regression model, the two-stage least squares method, and the system Generalised Method of Moments estimator show that financial development is positively related to ESG success. Also, additional tests involving the subcomponents of financial sector development (financial markets and financial institutions) show that the finding is consistent and robust under different model specifications. Taken together, financial development is an important catalyst to promote ESG performance in Asia.

Dynamics of Financial Development, Economic Growth, and Poverty Alleviation: The Indonesian Experience

Abstract: Although the poverty rate in Indonesia has been declining in the last several years, the rate of poverty decline is slowing down. In order to achieve its poverty reduction target within the stipulated time period, the government has stepped up efforts to enhance the contribution of the financial sector towards poverty reduction. This study aims to empirically explore the interlinkages between financial sector development and poverty reduction in Indonesia. Focusing on annual data covering the period from 1980 to 2015, the study adopts the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) cointegration approach to examine the long-run relationship between the variables. The study found that there is a long-run relationship between financial development, economic growth, and poverty reduction in Indonesia. It also documented a unidirectional causality running from the financial sector to poverty reduction and a bidirectional causality between economic growth and poverty reduction. Therefore, policies to ensure the conducive growth of the financial sector would go a long way in promoting the economy, creating employment opportunities, and consequently accelerating poverty eradication.