Effects of financial inclusion on income inequality in WAEMU countries

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Résumé

This study aims to examine the effect of financial inclusion on income inequality inWAEMU countries. The main objective is to analyze the extent to which expandingaccess to, use of financial services can contribute to reducing economic disparities,and to what extent their effects become marginal or counterproductive. To achievethis objective, an econometric methodology based on panel data will be used, withparticular emphasis on estimating a threshold model. The study will test the hypoth-esis of a non-linear relationship, according to which financial inclusion only begins tosignificantly reduce inequality beyond a certain critical level. Our empirical resultsreveal a non-linear relationship between digital infrastructure, financial inclusion, andinequality. Specifically, we find that when the ISIF index exceeds a threshold of 0.36,financial inclusion significantly lowers the Gini coefficient, suggesting that a criticalmass of infrastructure is required to catalyze the distributional benefits of financialservices.

(PDF) Effects of financial inclusion on income inequality in WAEMU countries. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/404180796_Effects_of_financial_inclusion_on_income_inequality_in_WAEMU_countries [accessed Aug 24 2026].

Mots-clés

Financial services; financial inclusion ; income inequality ;WAEMU