A multi-dimensional approach to the financial inclusion in EU countries

Teodora Cristina Barbu (), Iustina Boitan, Sorin Iulian Cioaca () and Carmen Obreja ()
Additional contact information
Teodora Cristina Barbu: University of Economic Studies, Faculty of Finance and Banking, Bucharest, Romania
Sorin Iulian Cioaca: University of Economic Studies, Faculty of Finance and Banking, Bucharest, Romania
Carmen Obreja: University of Economic Studies, Faculty of Finance and Banking, Bucharest, Romania

Romanian Journal of Economics, 2017, vol. 44, issue 1(53), 130-144

Abstract: The topic of financial inclusion has gained increased attention, on the background of international frameworks and policies devoted to inclusive societies, inclusive financial systems, sustainable and inclusive growth. However, existing literature and practice lack a generally accepted, reliable and easy to interpret quantitative measure of financial inclusion. The novelty of our paper relies on developing a financial inclusion index, comprising an updated set of indicators which account for current developments of the financial industry and the continuous diversification and complementarity of financial products people have access to. It is the first study comprising all the 28 EU countries and covering a large, recent time horizon (2008-2013). The index has been computed for each year considered and a ranking has been provided to comparatively assess the evolution of a given country on the financial inclusion scale. Our findings revealed that one-third of EU countries show moderate financial inclusion, while the remaining ones depict low financial inclusion, with different degrees of severity. A constant presence at the bottom limit of financial inclusion, in each of the six years, has been Romania. This result reflects a reality, namely the lack of official concern from authorities and financial institutions in respect of monitoring, measuring and stimulating financial inclusion. We believe that the index proposed in this paper could act not only for assessing the degree of inclusion at a given moment of time, but also as a tool for monitoring and signaling the imperative involvement of regulators, financial institutions and civil society in designing and implementing policies and programs for enhancing inclusive financial products.

Keywords: financial exclusion; financial inclusion index; financial education; inclusive financial products (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C43 G21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.revecon.ro/articles/2017-1/2017-1-11.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ine:journl:v:44:y:2017:i:53:p:130-144

Access Statistics for this article

Romanian Journal of Economics is currently edited by Institute of National Economy

More articles in Romanian Journal of Economics from Institute of National Economy Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Valentina Vasile ().