Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/238601 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
ADBI Working Paper Series No. 1244
Publisher: 
Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), Tokyo
Abstract: 
An all-inclusive financial system is one of the channels through which information and communication technology (ICT) affects economic growth. Digital financial inclusion is an evolving phenomenon that enhances the ease of access to and availability of formal financial services. Further, economic freedom is one of the significant factors affecting financial development and growth. Hence, there is a strong rationale for examining the effect of economic freedom on financial inclusion. However, there is no empirical evidence on the linkages between these variables in the literature. Accordingly, we examined these relationships. The results of a panel data analysis that we performed on a dataset pertaining to emerging economies show that the nexus of ICT diffusion-economic freedom-financial development has a positive impact on financial inclusion in the long run, highlighting the importance of creating an economic environment that is conducive to sustained economic growth. The findings of this study have significant implications from an economic policy standpoint and call for a more holistic approach.
Subjects: 
financial inclusion
ICT
economic freedom
financial development
emerging economies
VECM
JEL: 
G20
G21
G28
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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