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Finance, inequality, and poverty: cross-country evidence

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Author Info
Beck, Thorsten
Demirguc-Kunt, Asli
Levine, Ross

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Abstract

While substantial research finds that financial development boosts overall economic growth, the authors study whether financial development is pro-poor: Does financial development disproportionately raise the income of the poor? Using a broad cross-country sample, the authors find that the answer is yes: Financial intermediary development reduces income inequality by disproportionately boosting the income of the poor and therefore reduces poverty. This result is robust to controlling for simultaneity bias and reverse causation.

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Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 3338.

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Date of creation: 01 Jun 2004
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Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3338

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Keywords: Health Economics&Finance; Payment Systems&Infrastructure; Economic Conditions and Volatility; Economic Theory&Research; Environmental Economics&Policies; Inequality; Economic Theory&Research; Achieving Shared Growth; Health Economics&Finance; Governance Indicators;

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  33. Banerjee, Abhijit V & Newman, Andrew F, 1993. "Occupational Choice and the Process of Development," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(2), pages 274-98, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  35. Thorsten Beck & Ross Levine, 2004. "Legal Institutions and Financial Development," NBER Working Papers 10417, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Alex William Trew, 2005. " Finance and Growth: A Critical Survey," CDMA Working Paper Series 0507, Centre for Dynamic Macroeconomic Analysis, revised Apr 2006. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Martinez Peria, Maria Soledad, 2006. "Banking services for everyone ? Barriers to bank access and use around the world," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4079, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Beck, Thorsten, 2006. "Creating an efficient financial system : challenges in a global economy," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3856, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  4. Frederic Mishkin, 2005. "Is Financial Globalization Beneficial?," NBER Working Papers 11891, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Beck, Thorsten & Rahman, Md. Habibur, 2006. "Creating a more efficient financial system : challenges for Bangladesh," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3938, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  6. Geda, Alemayehu & Shimeles, Abebe & Zerfu, Daniel, 2006. "Finance and Poverty in Ethiopia: A Household Level Analysis," Working Papers RP2006/51, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER). [Downloadable!]
  7. Valpy FitzGerald (QEH), . "Finance and Growth in Developing Countries: Sound Principles and Unreliable Evidence," QEH Working Papers qehwps153, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford. [Downloadable!]
  8. Hartarska, Valentina, 2006. "Rating in Microfinance: Cross-Country Evidence," 2006 Annual Meeting, August 12-18, 2006, Queensland, Australia 25506, International Association of Agricultural Economists. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Honohan, Patrick, 2006. "Household Financial Assets in the Process of Development," Working Papers RP2006/91, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Quartey, Peter, 2005. "Financial Sector Development, Savings Mobilization and Poverty Reduction in Ghana," Working Papers RP2005/71, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER). [Downloadable!]
  12. Aggarwal, Reena & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Martinez Peria, Maria Soledad, 2006. "Do workers'remittances promote financial development ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3957, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  13. Beck, Thorsten & Fuchs, Michael, 2004. "Structural issues in the Kenyan financial system: improving competition and access," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3363, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  14. José De Gregorio, 2005. "Sustained Growth in Latin America," Economic Policy Papers Central Bank of Chile 13, Central Bank of Chile. [Downloadable!]
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  17. Smita Wagh & Sanjeev Gupta & Catherine A. Pattillo, 2007. "Impact of Remittances on Poverty and Financial Development in Sub-Saharan Africa," IMF Working Papers 07/38, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  18. Ricardo Bebczuk & Francisco Haimovich, 2007. "MDGs and Microcredit: An Empirical Evaluation for Latin American Countries," Working Papers 0048, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata. [Downloadable!]
  19. Manoel F. Meyer Bittencourt, 2005. "Macroeconomic Performance and Inequality: Brazil 1983-94," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 130, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
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  20. Philip Arestis & Asena Caner, 2008. "Capital Account Liberalization and Poverty: How Close is the Link?," Working Papers 0811, TOBB University of Economics and Technology, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  21. Kevin Joseph Carey & Sanjeev Gupta & Catherine A. Pattillo, 2005. "Sustaining Growth Accelerations and Pro-Poor Growth in Africa," IMF Working Papers 05/195, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  22. Alessandra Bonfiglioli, 2005. "Equities and Inequality," Economics Working Papers 947, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra. [Downloadable!]
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