Role of digital technologies in financial inclusion: a bibliometric analysis

Pavneet Singh

Journal of Economic Studies, 2025, vol. 53, issue 8, 1481-1496

Abstract: PurposeThis study aims to identify the themes in the existing research on the role of digital technologies in financial inclusion. This study also highlights the important journals, authors and countries leading the research on this topic and points towards the directions for future research.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a bibliometric analysis on a dataset of 653 articles in high-impact journals collected from Scopus. Science mapping and network analysis on this data are conducted using the Bibliometrix package in R and the VOS Viewer software.FindingsThe literature on the role of digital technologies in financial inclusion has grown exponentially in the last few years, especially in the developing countries. Lack of reliable databases on financial inclusion are an impediment to research. Seven important themes in existing research are identified – antecedents of digital financial inclusion (DFI), impact of DFI on macroeconomic outcomes, consumption patterns and sustainability, banks' stability and risk-taking, environmental impacts of financial technologies, improved access to credit for small businesses and economic geography-based critiques of these technologies.Originality/valueThis is the first bibliometric study on the role of digital technologies in financial inclusion and provides a thematic understanding of existing research clusters. The research gaps on the topic of DFI identified in this study can help drive future academic research.

Keywords: Financial technology; Mobile money; Financial inclusion; Inequality; Developing economies; Bibliometric analysis; Scopus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/jes/article/53/8/1481/1302 ... ologies-in-financial (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/jes/article-pdf/53/8/1481/ ... s-06-2025-0386en.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:eme:jespps:jes-06-2025-0386

DOI: 10.1108/JES-06-2025-0386

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Economic Studies is currently edited by Prof Mohsen Bahmani-Oskooee

More articles in Journal of Economic Studies from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().