Evolution of financial inclusion in Latin America

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

Journals Academia Revista Latinoamericana de Administración

Emerald

Año: 2020 p. 1 - 16

1012-8255

Purpose ? This paper analyses the evolution of the financial inclusion and its main determinants in sevenLatin American countries.Design/methodology/approach ? The database used is the Global Findex from the World Bank for thelatest 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 ofdebit and credit cards is considered. The methodologies applied are the mean difference tests, in order tocontrast 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 financialinstruments 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 theirfinancial inclusion.Originality/value ? There are no similar works for the region of study that allow us to evaluate the evolutionof financial inclusion considering the variables selected in the literature. It is possible to clearly fulfil theproposed objective, highlighting the importance of implementing financial inclusion policies in view of the lowpercentage of use of the instruments in the analyzed countries.