IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v76y2025ics0275531925001035.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The critical role of financial inclusion in green growth: Evidence from BRICS countries

Author

Listed:
  • Dong, Qiutong
  • Balsalobre-Lorente, Daniel
  • Syed, Qasim Raza

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations emphasize the need for green growth (GG), a concept that balances economic expansion with environmental sustainability. The core principles of GG are mitigating climate change, the transition to renewable energy consumption, and engaging in sustainable consumption. Therefore, this study uses advanced econometric techniques to investigate how financial inclusion influences GG in BRICS countries. The augment mean group (AMG) technique, complemented by the Method of Moment Quantile Regression (MMQR) approach, suggests financial inclusion increases GG in BRICS countries. The MMQR results reveal that financial inclusion fosters GG in the lower and medium quantiles. In line with the findings, financial institutions should focus on producing financial products that support the principles of green finance. This includes green stocks, sustainability funds, credit cards, bonds, and other sustainable financial products.

Suggested Citation

  • Dong, Qiutong & Balsalobre-Lorente, Daniel & Syed, Qasim Raza, 2025. "The critical role of financial inclusion in green growth: Evidence from BRICS countries," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:76:y:2025:i:c:s0275531925001035
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2025.102847
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531925001035
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ribaf.2025.102847?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arsalan Tanveer & Huaming Song & Muhammad Faheem & Abdul Daud & Noreen Safdar, 2024. "Navigating the asymmetric influence of financial inclusion on environmental sustainability: Dynamic role of energy consumption and human capital," Energy & Environment, , vol. 35(6), pages 3087-3115, September.
    2. Belmonte-Ureña, Luis Jesús & Plaza-Úbeda, José Antonio & Vazquez-Brust, Diego & Yakovleva, Natalia, 2021. "Circular economy, degrowth and green growth as pathways for research on sustainable development goals: A global analysis and future agenda," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    3. Ilyas, Muhammad & Mu, Zongyu & Akhtar, Sadaf & Hassan, Hassan & Shahzad, Khurram & Aslam, Bilal & Maqsood, Shoaib, 2024. "Renewable energy, economic development, energy consumption and its impact on environmental quality: New evidence from South East Asian countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    4. Lingxuan Zhang & Xiaomei Lian & Sana Ullah, 2024. "Remittance inflow and its impact on green growth in China: Economic and environmental implications of labor mobility," Energy & Environment, , vol. 35(5), pages 2846-2862, August.
    5. Chishti, Muhammad Zubair & Xia, Xiqiang & Du, Anna Min & Özkan, Oktay, 2025. "Digital financial inclusion, the belt and road initiative, and the Paris agreement: Impacts on energy transition grid costs," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    6. Qi, Yu & Zhang, Jianshun & Chen, Jianwei, 2023. "Tax incentives, environmental regulation and firms’ emission reduction strategies: Evidence from China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    7. Kim, Dai-Won & Yu, Jung-Suk & Hassan, M. Kabir, 2018. "Financial inclusion and economic growth in OIC countries," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 1-14.
    8. Jian Han & HaiYan Gao, 2024. "Green finance, social inclusion, and sustainable economic growth in OECD member countries," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-8, December.
    9. Li Wang & Yanan Wang & Youxia Sun & Kaiji Han & Yuetong Chen, 2022. "Financial inclusion and green economic efficiency: evidence from China," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 65(2), pages 240-271, January.
    10. Razzaq, Asif & Yang, Xiaodong, 2023. "Digital finance and green growth in China: Appraising inclusive digital finance using web crawler technology and big data," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    11. El Khoury, Rim & Min Du, Anna & Nasrallah, Nohade & Marashdeh, Hazem & Atayah, Osama F., 2025. "Towards sustainability: Examining financial, economic, and societal determinants of environmental degradation," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PA).
    12. Ahmed BenSaïda, 2023. "The linkage between Bitcoin and foreign exchanges in developed and emerging markets," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 9(1), pages 1-27, December.
    13. Razzaq, Asif & Sharif, Arshian & Ozturk, Ilhan & Skare, Marinko, 2023. "Asymmetric influence of digital finance, and renewable energy technology innovation on green growth in China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 310-319.
    14. Md Jamil, Abd Rahim & Law, Siong Hook & Khair-Afham, M.S. & Trinugroho, Irwan, 2024. "Financial inclusion and income inequality in developing countries: The role of aging populations," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).
    15. Luis Jesús Belmonte-Ureña & José Antonio Plaza-Úbeda & Diego Vazquez-Brust & Natalia Yakovleva, 2021. "Circular economy, degrowth and green growth as pathways for research on sustainable development goals: A global analysis and future agenda," Post-Print hal-04702943, HAL.
    16. Isaac Akomea-Frimpong & David Adeabah & Deborah Ofosu & Emmanuel Junior Tenakwah, 2022. "A review of studies on green finance of banks, research gaps and future directions," Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 1241-1264, October.
    17. Vincent Tawiah & Abdulrasheed Zakari & Rafael Alvarado, 2024. "Effect of corruption on green growth," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 10429-10459, April.
    18. Yixuan Wang & Ridwan Lanre Ibrahim & David Mautin Oke & Mamdouh Abdulaziz Saleh Al‐Faryan, 2024. "Investigating green energy–environment nexus in post‐COP26 era: Can technological innovation, financial development and government expenditure deliver Africa's targets?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(3), pages 3263-3285, July.
    19. Haitao Wu & Shiyue Luo & Suixin Li & Yan Xue & Yu Hao, 2024. "Fostering Urban Inclusive Green Growth: Does Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Matter?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 189(4), pages 677-698, February.
    20. Isaac Koomson & Renato A. Villano & David Hadley, 2020. "Effect of Financial Inclusion on Poverty and Vulnerability to Poverty: Evidence Using a Multidimensional Measure of Financial Inclusion," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 613-639, June.
    21. Fakher, Hossein Ali & Ahmed, Zahoor & Acheampong, Alex O. & Nathaniel, Solomon Prince, 2023. "Renewable energy, nonrenewable energy, and environmental quality nexus: An investigation of the N-shaped Environmental Kuznets Curve based on six environmental indicators," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PA).
    22. Muhammad Tariq & Yingzhi Xu & Kifayat Ullah & Biying Dong, 2024. "Toward low‐carbon emissions and green growth for sustainable development in emerging economies: Do green trade openness, eco‐innovation, and carbon price matter?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 959-978, February.
    23. Li, Yuchen & Jin, Guangyi & Cui, Zhehao & Lv, Bishun & Xu, Zhejun, 2024. "Does digital inclusive finance promote regional green inclusive growth?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PB).
    24. Mohd Daud, Siti Nurazira & Ahmad, Abd Halim & Trinugroho, Irwan, 2024. "Financial inclusion, digital technology, and economic growth: Further evidence," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PB).
    25. Quang Hai Nguyen, 2024. "The influence of key economic globalization factors on economic growth and environmental quality: An empirical study in Southeast Asian countries," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(1), pages 57-75, January.
    26. Yang Chen & Oleksii Lyulyov & Tetyana Pimonenko & Aleksy Kwilinski, 2024. "Green development of the country: Role of macroeconomic stability," Energy & Environment, , vol. 35(5), pages 2273-2295, August.
    27. Naqvi, Syed Asif Ali & Hussain, Mehvish & Hussain, Bilal & Shah, Syed Ale Raza & Nazir, Jawad & Usman, Muhammad, 2023. "Environmental sustainability and biomass energy consumption through the lens of pollution Haven hypothesis and renewable energy-environmental kuznets curve," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 621-631.
    28. Zhiyang Shen & Tianyang Hong & Stéphane Blancard & Kaixuan Bai, 2024. "Digital financial inclusion and green growth: analysis of Chinese agriculture," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(46), pages 5555-5573, October.
    29. Zhilong Qin & Chao Tu & Weihui Han & Qintong Jiang, 2024. "The impact of market-incentive environmental regulation policies on corporate environmental costs: Evidence from China’s carbon trading policy," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(2), pages 1-20, February.
    30. Sohail Abbas & Ghulam Dastgeer & Samia Nasreen & Shazia Kousar & Urooj Riaz & Saira Arsh & Muhammad Imran, 2024. "How Financial Inclusion and Green Innovation Promote Green Economic Growth in Developing Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-19, July.
    31. Md. Saiful Islam & Sk Habibur Rahaman & Tahir Akhtar, 2024. "Impact of remittance on economic growth and environmental quality in the purview of energy use, regulatory quality, and financial development," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 48(3), pages 903-924, August.
    32. Arno J. van Niekerk, 2024. "Economic Inclusion: Green Finance and the SDGs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-21, January.
    33. Ozcan, Burcu & Tzeremes, Panayiotis G. & Tzeremes, Nickolaos G., 2020. "Energy consumption, economic growth and environmental degradation in OECD countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 203-213.
    34. Maiti, Moinak, 2022. "Does development in venture capital investments influence green growth?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    35. Abdul Razak, Azila & Asutay, Mehmet, 2022. "Financial inclusion and economic well-being: Evidence from Islamic Pawnbroking (Ar-Rahn) in Malaysia," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    36. Hayot Berk Saydaliev & Lee Chin, 2023. "Role of green financing and financial inclusion to develop the cleaner environment for macroeconomic stability: Inter-temporal analysis of ASEAN economies," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(6), pages 3839-3859, December.
    37. Qunyang Du & Fangxing Zhou & Tianle Yang & Min Du, 2023. "Digital Financial Inclusion, Household Financial Participation and Well-Being: Micro-Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(6), pages 1782-1796, May.
    38. Nuta, Alina Cristina & Abban, Olivier Joseph & Ayad, Hicham & Nuta, Florian Marcel, 2025. "Role of financial development and inclusivity in moderating the environmental effects of human development," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(PA).
    39. Huang, Siqi & Cheng, Manli & Shu, Zhenzhu, 2024. "Role of social capital and financial inclusion in sustainable economic growth," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(PA).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yıldırım, Zal & Şendeniz-Yüncü, İlkay, 2025. "Financial development, international financial integration, and income inequality: An emerging markets perspective," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(PA).

    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. Ul-Durar, Shajara & Iqbal, Mubasher & Naveed, Shabana & Massacci, Alberto & Saleem, Irfan, 2025. "Sustainable financial inclusion through social progress and regularity quality interaction – Implication for least developed countries," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    2. Yu, Jianping & Khattak, Shoukat Iqbal & Ahmad, Manzoor, 2025. "Enhancing sustainable development through digital economy and natural resource management in one belt one road countries," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Jianjun Li & Ali Imran, 2025. "Sustainable Transitions: Navigating Green Technologies, Clean Energy, Economic Growth, and Human Capital for a Greener Future," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-25, April.
    4. Gao, Zhiyuan & Zhu, Yingnan & Wei, Yihang & Hao, Yu, 2025. "The green circuit: Tracing digital inclusive finance's role in sustainable urban development," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    5. Chatzistamoulou, Nikos & Dimakopoulou, Andriana G., 2025. "Do climate change policy instruments loom like the sword of Damocles over green technology independence to achieve green growth and sustainability in Europe?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    6. Yanjie Jiang & Xiaodi Ding, 2025. "Exploring the Nexus Between Ecosystem Services and Economic Sustainability: A Stakeholder Perspective," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(3), pages 3639-3658, May.
    7. David Damiyano & Stephen Mago, 2023. "An Analysis of the Impact of Financial Inclusion on Poverty and Development: Case of SACU Countries," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 13(6), pages 141-147, November.
    8. Muhammad Zubair Chishti & Arshian Sharif & Qi Xu & Gagan Deep Sharma, 2024. "Toward sustainable development: Revealing the dynamic impacts of the belt and road initiative on energy transition," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(6), pages 7069-7095, December.
    9. Niangjijia Nyangchak, 2024. "Green growth as a pathway toward sustainable development: A systems thinking on the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau in China," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(3), pages 2153-2175, June.
    10. Dervis Kirikkaleli & Samar Aad & Nurdan Ozrecberoglu Kirikkaleli, 2025. "Sustainable development and investment in artificial intelligence in the USA," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-7, December.
    11. Itziar Sobrino‐García, 2025. "European waste management regulations in Spanish local administrations: Compliance assessment and integration Frontiers," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(2), pages 2553-2565, April.
    12. Ruibo Jiang & Wenjing Fan, 2022. "Inclusive finance and employment: Can financial development improve peasant's entrepreneurship?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(3), pages 630-646, April.
    13. Sabando-Vera, David & Montalván-Burbano, Néstor & Parrales-Guerrero, Katherine & Yonfá-Medranda, Marcela & Plaza-Úbeda, José Antonio, 2025. "Growing a greener future: A bibliometric analysis of green innovation in SMEs," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    14. Manoj A. Palsodkar & Parth P. Koltharkar, 2024. "Nexus Effect of Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy Practices in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 3215-3244, December.
    15. Satar Bakhsh & Md Shabbir Alam & Kishwar Ali & Muhammad Anas, 2024. "What facilitates green economic growth in mineral-endowment countries? The role of digital financial inclusion, mineral resources, and economic governance," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 37(4), pages 841-861, December.
    16. Francisco José Castillo‐Díaz & Luis J. Belmonte‐Ureña & Ana Batlles‐delaFuente & Francisco Camacho‐Ferre, 2023. "Impact of environmental policies on the profitability of greenhouse agriculture in southeastern Spain," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(5), pages 3639-3656, October.
    17. Ben Cheikh, Nidhaleddine & Rault, Christophe, 2024. "Financial inclusion and threshold effects in carbon emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    18. Dhekra Ben Amara & Jiajun Qiao, 2025. "Can Africa–China cooperation influence African green growth to truly alleviate undernourishment? Evidence of the quadruple mediating effect," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(1), pages 916-938, February.
    19. Llorente-González, Leandro J. & Alberich, Josep Pinyol & Genovese, Andrea & Lowe, Benjamin H., 2025. "Towards radical circular economy futures: Addressing social relations of production," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    20. Luo, Heng & Sun, Ying, 2024. "The impact of energy efficiency on ecological footprint in the presence of EKC: Evidence from G20 countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:eee:riibaf:v:76:y:2025:i:c:s0275531925001035. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ribaf .

    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.