Evolution of financial inclusion in Latin America: Management area: Business Economics Evolución de la inclusión financiera en América Latina

MARTINEZ, LISANA B.; SCHERGER, VALERIA; GUERCIO, M. BELÉN; ORAZI, SOFÍA

Academia Revista Latinoamericana de Administracion

Emerald Group Holdings Ltd.

Año: 2020 vol. 33 p. 261 - 276

1012-8255

Purpose: This paper analyses the evolution of the financial inclusion and its main determinants in seven Latin American countries. Design/methodology/approach: The database used is the Global Findex from the World Bank for the latest data released that includes the years 2011 and 2014. The variables used are formal financial accounts, formal savings and formal credit as proxies of financial inclusion for the years of study. Moreover, the use of debit and credit cards is considered. The methodologies applied are the mean difference tests, in order to contrast the hypotheses of the inclusion evolution and binary probit regressions models. Findings: The results of the analysis show that there is a positive evolution in the use of financial instruments in the countries of the sample, especially in the use of formal accounts. On the other hand, considering the characteristics of the individuals, age, level of education and income positively affect their financial inclusion. Originality/value: There are no similar works for the region of study that allow us to evaluate the evolution of financial inclusion considering the variables selected in the literature. It is possible to clearly fulfil the proposed objective, highlighting the importance of implementing financial inclusion policies in view of the low percentage of use of the instruments in the analyzed countries.