IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/ecopln/v57y2024i2d10.1007_s10644-024-09638-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Decomposing the impact of financial openness on finance and income inequality: principle vs. outcome-based approaches from Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Biruk Birhanu Ashenafi

    (Southwestern University of Finance and Economics)

  • Yan Dong

    (Southwestern University of Finance and Economics)

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of financial openness on financial sector development and income inequality. We use two approaches to capture financial openness for a panel dataset of 52 African countries from 1980–2019 and find that: (1) Principle-based financial openness policy negatively affects financial sector development and widens income inequality. In contrast, the outcome-based measures positively affect banking sector development and narrow income inequality. (2) Capital inflow to African countries is not merely pulled a vibrant macroeconomic fundamental. Only schooling and governance factors facilitate the impact of financial openness on financial sector development. (3) Adverse non-policy factors play an insignificant role in moderating the impact of financial openness. This implies that the impact of financial openness on financial sector development and income inequality is weak in countries experiencing a banking crisis or passing through a lengthy conflict. Our finding is consistent with the institutional quality theory, which claims robust institutions are needed. We underline that countries should take caution in implementing principle-based reforms. Particularly, there is an alternative policy path for African countries to optimize the benefit by pursuing outcome-based financial openness measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Biruk Birhanu Ashenafi & Yan Dong, 2024. "Decomposing the impact of financial openness on finance and income inequality: principle vs. outcome-based approaches from Africa," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1-32, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:ecopln:v:57:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s10644-024-09638-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10644-024-09638-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10644-024-09638-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10644-024-09638-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Iamsiraroj, Sasi & Doucouliagos, Hristos, 2015. "Does growth attract FDI?," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 9, pages 1-35.
    2. Chinn, Menzie D. & Ito, Hiro, 2006. "What matters for financial development? Capital controls, institutions, and interactions," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 163-192, October.
    3. Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones, 1999. "Why do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output Per Worker than Others?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 83-116.
    4. M Ayhan Kose & Eswar Prasad & Kenneth Rogoff & Shang-Jin Wei, 2009. "Financial Globalization: A Reappraisal," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 56(1), pages 8-62, April.
    5. Paramita Mukherjee & Sahana Roy Chowdhury & Poulomi Bhattacharya, 2021. "Does financial liberalization lead to financial development? Evidence from emerging economies," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(8), pages 1263-1287, November.
    6. Philip Arestis & Panicos Demetriades, 1999. "Financial Liberalization: The Experience of Developing Countries," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 25(4), pages 441-457, Fall.
    7. James B. Ang, 2010. "Finance and Inequality: The Case of India," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 76(3), pages 738-761, January.
    8. Greenwood, Jeremy & Jovanovic, Boyan, 1990. "Financial Development, Growth, and the Distribution of Income," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 1076-1107, October.
    9. Philip R. Lane & Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, 2018. "The External Wealth of Nations Revisited: International Financial Integration in the Aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 66(1), pages 189-222, March.
    10. Luca Agnello & Ricardo M. Sousa, 2012. "How do banking crises impact on income inequality?," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(15), pages 1425-1429, October.
    11. Stiglitz, Joseph E., 2000. "Capital Market Liberalization, Economic Growth, and Instability," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 1075-1086, June.
    12. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 2003. "Law and finance: why does legal origin matter?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 653-675, December.
    13. Guillermo A. Calvo & Leonardo Leiderman & Carmen M. Reinhart, 1993. "Capital Inflows and Real Exchange Rate Appreciation in Latin America: The Role of External Factors," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 40(1), pages 108-151, March.
    14. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    15. Miao Wang & M. Wong, 2011. "FDI, Education, and Economic Growth: Quality Matters," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 39(2), pages 103-115, June.
    16. Dennis Quinn & Martin Schindler & A Maria Toyoda, 2011. "Assessing Measures of Financial Openness and Integration," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 59(3), pages 488-522, August.
    17. Eswar Prasad & Shang-Jin Wei, 2007. "The Chinese Approach to Capital Inflows: Patterns and Possible Explanations," NBER Chapters, in: Capital Controls and Capital Flows in Emerging Economies: Policies, Practices, and Consequences, pages 421-480, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Fernandez-Arias, Eduardo, 1996. "The new wave of private capital inflows: Push or pull?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 389-418, March.
    19. George R. G. Clarke & Lixin Colin Xu & Heng‐fu Zou, 2006. "Finance and Income Inequality: What Do the Data Tell Us?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 72(3), pages 578-596, January.
    20. Iamsiraroj, Sasi & Doucouliagos, Hristos, 2015. "Does growth attract FDI?," Economics Discussion Papers 2015-18, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    21. Lane, Philip R. & Milesi-Ferretti, Gian Maria, 2007. "The external wealth of nations mark II: Revised and extended estimates of foreign assets and liabilities, 1970-2004," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 223-250, November.
    22. Jakob de Haan & Regina Pleninger & Jan-Egbert Sturm, 2018. "Does the impact of financial liberalization on income inequality depend on financial development? Some new evidence," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(5), pages 313-316, March.
    23. Kaufmann, Daniel & Kraay, Aart & Mastruzzi, Massimo, 2010. "The worldwide governance indicators : methodology and analytical issues," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5430, The World Bank.
    24. Davide Furceri & Prakash Loungani & Jonathan Ostry & Pietro Pizzuto, 2020. "Financial Globalization, Fiscal Policies and the Distribution of Income," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 62(2), pages 185-199, June.
    25. Michael Enowbi Batuo & Simplice A. Asongu, 2015. "The impact of liberalisation policies on income inequality in African countries," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 42(1), pages 68-100, January.
    26. Eichengreen, Barry & Gullapalli, Rachita & Panizza, Ugo, 2011. "Capital account liberalization, financial development and industry growth: A synthetic view," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 1090-1106, October.
    27. Ernest Aryeetey, 2003. "Recent Developments in African Financial Markets: Agenda for Further Research," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 12(Supplemen), pages 111-152, September.
    28. Simplice Asongu, 2014. "Law, Finance and Investment: Does Legal Origin Matter in Africa?," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 41(2), pages 145-175, June.
    29. Zeynep Ozkok, 2015. "Financial openness and financial development: an analysis using indices," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(5), pages 620-649, September.
    30. Bumann, Silke & Lensink, Robert, 2016. "Capital account liberalization and income inequality," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 143-162.
    31. Alessandria, George & Qian, Jun, 2005. "Endogenous financial intermediation and real effects of capital account liberalization," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 97-128, September.
    32. Dennis P. Quinn & A. Maria Toyoda, 2008. "Does Capital Account Liberalization Lead to Growth?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(3), pages 1403-1449, May.
    33. M Ayhan Kose & Eswar Prasad & Kenneth Rogoff & Shang-Jin Wei, 2009. "Financial Globalization: A Reappraisal," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 56(1), pages 8-62, April.
    34. Pierre Monnin, 2014. "Inflation and Income Inequality in Developed Economies," Working Papers 1401, Council on Economic Policies.
    35. Onur zdemir, 2019. "Autoregressive Distributed Lag Approach to the Income Inequality and Financial Liberalization Nexus: Empirical Evidence from Turkey," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 9(6), pages 1-15.
    36. Martin Schindler, 2009. "Measuring Financial Integration: A New Data Set," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 56(1), pages 222-238, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Biruk Birhanu Ashenafi & Yan Dong, 2023. "Financial openness, financial sector development, and income inequality: With an extensive set of pull and push factors," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 35(2), pages 138-151, June.
    2. Ghosh, Atish R. & Ostry, Jonathan D. & Qureshi, Mahvash S., 2018. "Taming the Tide of Capital Flows: A Policy Guide," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262037165, December.
    3. Savina Gygli & Florian Haelg & Niklas Potrafke & Jan-Egbert Sturm, 2019. "The KOF Globalisation Index – revisited," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 543-574, September.
    4. Kose, M. Ayhan & Prasad, Eswar & Rogoff, Kenneth & Wei, Shang-Jin, 2010. "Financial Globalization and Economic Policies," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Dani Rodrik & Mark Rosenzweig (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 4283-4359, Elsevier.
    5. Claudius Gräbner & Philipp Heimberger & Jakob Kapeller & Florian Springholz, 2021. "Understanding economic openness: a review of existing measures," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 157(1), pages 87-120, February.
    6. Bekaert, Geert & Harvey, Campbell R. & Lundblad, Christian, 2011. "Financial Openness and Productivity," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 1-19, January.
    7. Md Arif-Ur-Rahman & Kazuo Inaba, 2020. "Financial integration and total factor productivity: in consideration of different capital controls and foreign direct investment," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 9(1), pages 1-20, December.
    8. Eswar S. Prasad & Raghuram G. Rajan, 2008. "A Pragmatic Approach to Capital Account Liberalization," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(3), pages 149-172, Summer.
    9. M Ayhan Kose & Eswar Prasad & Kenneth Rogoff & Shang-Jin Wei, 2009. "Financial Globalization: A Reappraisal," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 56(1), pages 8-62, April.
    10. Frankel, Jeffrey, 2010. "Monetary Policy in Emerging Markets," Handbook of Monetary Economics, in: Benjamin M. Friedman & Michael Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Monetary Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 25, pages 1439-1520, Elsevier.
    11. J. Ramos-Tallada., 2013. "The IMF and management of capital flows: the long road towards a pragmatic approach," Quarterly selection of articles - Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 31, pages 63-85, Autumn.
    12. Sèna Kimm Gnangnon, 2022. "Export diversification and financial openness," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 675-717, October.
    13. Simplice A Asongu & Lieven De Moor, 2017. "Financial Globalisation Dynamic Thresholds for Financial Development: Evidence from Africa," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(1), pages 192-212, January.
    14. Estrada, Gemma Esther & Park, Donghyun & Ramayandi, Arief, 2015. "Financial Development, Financial Openness, and Economic Growth," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 442, Asian Development Bank.
    15. Jeffrey A. Frankel, 2010. "Monetary Policy in Emerging Markets: A Survey," NBER Working Papers 16125, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Prati, Alessandro & Schindler, Martin & Valenzuela, Patricio, 2012. "Who benefits from capital account liberalization? Evidence from firm-level credit ratings data," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 1649-1673.
    17. Okada, Keisuke, 2013. "The interaction effects of financial openness and institutions on international capital flows," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 131-143.
    18. Gehringer, Agnieszka, 2013. "Financial liberalization, financial development and productivity growth: An overview," Economics Discussion Papers 2013-46, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    19. Agnieszka Gehringer, 2012. "Financial liberalization, growth, productivity and capital accumulation: The case of European integration," FIW Working Paper series 086, FIW.
    20. Ayhan Kose, M. & Prasad, Eswar S. & Terrones, Marco E., 2009. "Does openness to international financial flows raise productivity growth?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 554-580, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:ecopln:v:57:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s10644-024-09638-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.