Reaching Financial Inclusion: Necessary and Sufficient Conditions

Abstract

Financial inclusion is a vital development policy concern; different combinations and conditions of access to (supply) and use of (demand) financial services may predict levels of financial inclusion. With a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, conducted across 61 countries worldwide, the current research establishes that financial literacy and human development are conditions of high financial inclusion; supply-side drivers, such as bank concentration and bank branches, represent substitutive conditions for attaining high levels of financial inclusion. With separate analyses of a split sample, designating developed and developing countries, the authors also determine that the absence of financial literacy and human development, as demand-side drivers, leads to diminished financial inclusion for both sets of countries. In turn, this research offers novel ideas for achieving more efficient policies to prompt financial inclusion.