IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jjrfmx/v18y2025i7p392-d1702374.html

Financial Inclusion as a Pathway to Poverty Alleviation and Equality in Latin America: An Empirical Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Jeniffer Rubio

    (Centro de Investigaciones Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad de las Américas, Quito 170124, Ecuador)

  • Micaela León

    (Centro de Investigaciones Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad de las Américas, Quito 170124, Ecuador)

Abstract

This study examines the impact of financial inclusion (FI) on reducing poverty and income inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), using panel data from 15 countries for the period 2004–2021. System GMM with robust errors was used to address endogeneity issues, and FI was assessed in terms of access to and use of the financial system. The results indicate that increased FI contributes to reducing poverty and income inequality in LAC. While access to financial services plays a crucial role in poverty reduction, the utilization of financial services has a more profound impact on combating income inequality. These results underscore the importance of policies designed to improve financial access and promote the use of financial products and services. It is recommended to expand the banking infrastructure, facilitate the provision of low-cost accounts, and strengthen financial education programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeniffer Rubio & Micaela León, 2025. "Financial Inclusion as a Pathway to Poverty Alleviation and Equality in Latin America: An Empirical Analysis," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-22, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:18:y:2025:i:7:p:392-:d:1702374
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/18/7/392/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/18/7/392/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ms. Izabela Karpowicz, 2014. "Financial Inclusion, Growth and Inequality: A Model Application to Colombia," IMF Working Papers 2014/166, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Kim, Dong-Hyeon & Lin, Shu-Chin, 2023. "Income inequality, inflation and financial development," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 468-487.
    3. Steven Cassimon & Alessandro Maravalle & Alberto González Pandiella & Lou Turroques, 2022. "Determinants of and barriers to people’s financial inclusion in Mexico," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1728, OECD Publishing.
    4. Sumanta Kumar Saha & Jie Qin, 2023. "Financial inclusion and poverty alleviation: an empirical examination," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 409-440, February.
    5. Xuan T. T. Pham & Thu B. Luu, 2024. "Effect of FinCredit on income inequality: the moderating role of financial inclusion," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 953-969, 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. Kim, Dong-Hyeon & Lin, Shu-Chin & Liu, Peiyao & Liu, Jiaqi, 2025. "Financial development and the nexus between inflation and wealth inequality," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    2. Granda, Catalina & Hamann, Franz & Tamayo, Cesar E., 2019. "Credit and saving constraints in general equilibrium: A quantitative exploration," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 302-319.
    3. Betgilu Oshora & Goshu Desalegn & Eva Gorgenyi-Hegyes & Maria Fekete-Farkas & Zoltan Zeman, 2021. "Determinants of Financial Inclusion in Small and Medium Enterprises: Evidence from Ethiopia," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-19, June.
    4. Daniela Fernanda Diaz & Sonia Di Giannatale & Irvin Rojas, 2023. "Financial Vulnerability and Financial Instruments: Evidence from Mexico," Sobre México. Revista de Economía, Sobre México. Temas en economía, vol. 1(8), pages 94-134.
    5. Maria Luisa Jaramillo Gomez & Alvaro Turriago Hoyos & Ulf Thoene, 2015. "Financial inclusion from the perspective of social innovation: The case of Colombia," Proceedings of Business and Management Conferences 3104801, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.
    6. Kosmas Njanike & Raphael T. Mpofu, 2024. "Factors Influencing Financial Inclusion for Social Inclusion in Selected African Countries," Insight on Africa, , vol. 16(1), pages 93-112, January.
    7. Wu, Yingjia & Cao, Nannan & Muda, Iskandar & Rady, Ahmed & Abduvaxitovna, Shamansurova Zilola, 2024. "Financial development and natural resource nexus: Evaluating the importance of mineral in BRICS economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    8. Michel Denuit & Jos'e Miguel Flores-Contr'o & Christian Y. Robert, 2026. "Linear Risk Sharing in Community-Based Insurance: Ruin Reduction in the Compound Poisson Model," Papers 2603.29530, arXiv.org.
    9. Richard Apau & Athenia Bongani Sibindi, 2025. "Determinants of bank deposits under changing economic conditions in South Africa," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 14(2), pages 241-251, March.
    10. Kim, Dong-Hyeon & Lin, Shu-Chin, 2024. "Inflation and wealth inequality," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 893-907.
    11. Chimwemwe Misomali & Gowokani Chijere Chirwa, 2025. "The Impact of Financial Inclusion on Multidimensional Poverty among Females In Malawi," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 180(3), pages 1853-1873, December.
    12. Robert Gmeiner, 2026. "Financial sector profits, labor income, and the divergence of consumer and producer prices," International Journal of Economic Policy Studies, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 211-230, February.
    13. Agba, Komlan Eli, 2025. "Non-linear dynamics of inflation aversion in the Euro Area: Evidence from a Panel Smooth Transition model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    14. Emmanuel Baffour Gyau & Yaya Li & Michael Appiah, 2025. "Global digital transformation: discovering the impact of digitalization on income inequality in OECD countries, the moderating role of globalization," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 1-37, February.
    15. Muhammad Aleem Arshad & Muhammad Ramzan Sheikh & Zeeshan Arif, 2024. "Does Price Level Increase Income Inequality in Pakistan? A Disaggregated Analysis," Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 13(2), pages 154-159.
    16. Thanh Tam Le & Nguyen Dieu Linh Dang & Thi Dieu Thu Nguyen & Thanh Son Vu & Manh Dung Tran, 2019. "Determinants of Financial Inclusion: Comparative Study of Asian Countries," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 9(10), pages 1107-1123, October.
    17. Simionescu, Mihaela, 2025. "Inflation, financial development, and income/wealth inequality in the European Union," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 49(4).
    18. Daud, Siti Nurazira Mohd & Ahmad, Abd Halim & Trinugroho, Irwan & Rusgianto, Sulistya & Ridhwan, Masagus M., 2025. "FinTech and unemployment: New evidence on the role of labor market regulation," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    19. repec:bcp:journl:v:5:y:2021:i:10:p:442-456 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Ms. Era Dabla-Norris & Yixi Deng & Anna Ivanova & Ms. Izabela Karpowicz & Ms. Filiz D Unsal & Eva VanLeemput & Joyce Wong, 2015. "Financial Inclusion: Zooming in on Latin America," IMF Working Papers 2015/206, International Monetary Fund.
    21. Ngasuko, Tri Achya, 2017. "Level Keuangan Inklusif Indonesia 2015: Studi Kasus Data Susenas 2015 [2015 Indonesia Financial Inclusion Level: Case Study On 2015 Susenas Data]," MPRA Paper 99151, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 May 2017.

    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:gam:jjrfmx:v:18:y:2025:i:7:p:392-:d:1702374. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.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.