IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ibn/ijefaa/v9y2017i1p211-220.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Financial Development and Poverty in Developing Countries: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Pam Zahonogo

Abstract

The paper investigates how financial development affects poverty indicators in developing countries. We implement this analysis with a poverty model using data from 42 Sub-Saharan African countries and covering the period 1980-2012. We employ the System Generalized Method-of-Moment (GMM) that is appropriate to control country specific effects and the possible endogeneity. The empirical evidence shows that there indeed exists a financial development threshold below which financial development has detrimental effects on poor and above which financial development could be associated with less poverty. The evidence then points an inverted U curve type response and the findings are robust to changes in poverty measures and to alternative model specifications, suggesting thus the non-fragility of the linkage between financial development and poverty for sub-Saharan African countries. Our findings are then promising and support the view that the relation between financial development and poverty reduction is not linear for sub-Saharan African countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Pam Zahonogo, 2017. "Financial Development and Poverty in Developing Countries: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 9(1), pages 211-220, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:ibn:ijefaa:v:9:y:2017:i:1:p:211-220
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijef/article/view/63137/35343
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: http://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijef/article/view/63137
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sylviane Guillaumont Jeanneney & Kangni Kpodar, 2011. "Financial Development and Poverty Reduction: Can There be a Benefit without a Cost?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(1), pages 143-163.
    2. Uddin, Gazi Salah & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Arouri, Mohamed & Teulon, Frédéric, 2014. "Financial development and poverty reduction nexus: A cointegration and causality analysis in Bangladesh," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 405-412.
    3. Im, Kyung So & Pesaran, M. Hashem & Shin, Yongcheol, 2003. "Testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 53-74, July.
    4. Easterly, William & Fischer, Stanley, 2001. "Inflation and the Poor," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 33(2), pages 160-178, May.
    5. Maddala, G S & Wu, Shaowen, 1999. "A Comparative Study of Unit Root Tests with Panel Data and a New Simple Test," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(0), pages 631-652, Special I.
    6. Odhiambo, Nicholas M., 2009. "Finance-growth-poverty nexus in South Africa: A dynamic causality linkage," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 320-325, March.
    7. Sylviane Guillaumont Jeanneney & Kangni Kpodar, 2011. "Financial Development and Poverty Reduction: Can There Be a Benefit Without a Cost?," Post-Print halshs-00601306, HAL.
    8. Gazi Salah Uddin & Muhammed Shahbaz & Mohamed Arouri & Frédéric Teulon, 2014. "Financial Development and Poverty Reduction Nexus: A cointegration and causality analysis in Bangladesh," Working Papers 2014-291, Department of Research, Ipag Business School.
    9. Chang, Roberto & Kaltani, Linda & Loayza, Norman V., 2009. "Openness can be good for growth: The role of policy complementarities," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 33-49, September.
    10. Georg 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.
    11. Ravallion, Martin & Datt, Gaurav, 2002. "Why has economic growth been more pro-poor in some states of India than others?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 381-400, August.
    12. Dollar, David & Kraay, Aart, 2002. "Growth Is Good for the Poor," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 195-225, September.
    13. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    14. Sylviane Guillaumont Jeanneney & Kangni Kpodar, 2011. "Financial Development and Poverty Reduction: Can There be a Benefit without a Cost?," Post-Print halshs-00554229, HAL.
    15. Jamel Boukhatem & Bochra Mokrani, 2012. "Effets directs du développement financier sur la pauvreté : validation empirique sur un panel de pays à bas et moyen revenu," Mondes en développement, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(4), pages 133-148.
    16. Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Ross Levine, 2007. "Finance, inequality and the poor," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 27-49, March.
    17. Asiedu, Elizabeth, 2003. "Debt relief and institutional reform: a focus on Heavily Indebted Poor Countries," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 614-626.
    18. G. S. Maddala & Shaowen Wu, 1999. "A Comparative Study of Unit Root Tests with Panel Data and a New Simple Test," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(S1), pages 631-652, November.
    19. Ross Levine, 2008. "Finance And The Poor," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 76(s1), pages 1-13, September.
    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. Liu Haiyun & Yassin Elshain Yahia & Md Ismail Hossain & Sayyed Sadaqat Hussain Shah, 2023. "The effect of integration processes of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa on the economic growth of the member states," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 93-111, January.
    2. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2023. "The effect of inequality on poverty and severity of poverty in SSA: the role of financial development institutions," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 23/030, African Governance and Development Institute..
    3. Thierry Mamadou Asngar, 2022. "Does financial development improve access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa?," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(9), pages 1-18, September.
    4. Clement Olalekan Olaniyi & James Temitope Dada & Nicholas Mbaya Odhiambo & Xuan Vinh Vo, 2023. "Modelling asymmetric structure in the finance-poverty nexus: empirical insights from an emerging market economy," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 453-487, February.
    5. Gideon Minua Kwaku Ampofo & Prosper Basommi Laari & Emmanuel Opoku Ware & Williams Shaw, 2023. "Further investigation of the total natural resource rents and economic growth nexus in resource-abundant sub-Saharan African countries," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 36(1), pages 97-121, January.
    6. Kouadio, Hugues Kouassi & Gakpa, Lewis-Landry, 2022. "Do economic growth and institutional quality reduce poverty and inequality in West Africa?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 41-63.
    7. Yakubu Awudu Sare, 2021. "Threshold Effects of Financial Sector Development on International Trade in Africa," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(1), pages 515-541, January.
    8. A. O Olohunlana & R. O. S Dauda, 2019. "Implications of financial development on poverty and inequality: Evidence from Nigeria," Romanian Economic Journal, Department of International Business and Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest, vol. 22(71), pages 42-59, March.
    9. Ofori, Isaac K. & Armah, Mark K. & Taale, Francis & Ofori, Pamela E., 2021. "Addressing the Severity and Intensity of Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa: How Relevant is the ICT and Financial Development Pathway?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue forthcomi.
    10. Simplice A. Asongu & Valentine B. Soumtang & Ofeh M. Edoh, 2021. "Financial institutions, poverty and severity of poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 21/081, African Governance and Development Institute..
    11. Moses Umkanagwa Paul & Prof Ibrahim Baba Iya, PhD & Miftahu Idris, PhD, 2023. "Impact of Financial Development and Economic Growth on Poverty in Middle Income African Countries," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(9), pages 142-155, September.
    12. Nasreddine Kaidi & Sami Mensi, 2020. "Financial Development, Income Inequality, and Poverty Reduction: Democratic Versus Autocratic Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 11(4), pages 1358-1381, December.
    13. Samuel Orekoya & Oluwatoyin Akintunde, 2023. "Financial Inclusion as a Panacea for Income Inequality in Nigeria," The Review of Finance and Banking, Academia de Studii Economice din Bucuresti, Romania / Facultatea de Finante, Asigurari, Banci si Burse de Valori / Catedra de Finante, vol. 15(2), pages 169-180, December.
    14. Nasreddine Kaidi & Sami Mensi, 2018. "Financial Development and Poverty Reduction: A Study of Middle-Income Countries," Working Papers 1216, Economic Research Forum, revised 05 Sep 2018.

    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. Boukhatem, Jamel, 2016. "Assessing the direct effect of financial development on poverty reduction in a panel of low- and middle-income countries," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 214-230.
    2. Madhu Sehrawat & A. K. Giri, 2018. "The impact of financial development, economic growth, income inequality on poverty: evidence from India," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 1585-1602, December.
    3. Alessandra Cepparulo & Juan Carlos Cuestas & Maurizio Intartaglia, 2017. "Financial development, institutions, and poverty alleviation: an empirical analysis," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(36), pages 3611-3622, August.
    4. Clement Olalekan Olaniyi & James Temitope Dada & Nicholas Mbaya Odhiambo & Xuan Vinh Vo, 2023. "Modelling asymmetric structure in the finance-poverty nexus: empirical insights from an emerging market economy," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 453-487, February.
    5. Madhu Sehrawat & A. Giri, 2016. "Financial development, poverty and rural-urban income inequality: evidence from South Asian countries," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 577-590, March.
    6. Ayad Hicham, 2017. "Financial Development and Poverty Reduction Nexus: A Co-Integration and Causality Analysis in Selected Arabic Countries," Academic Journal of Economic Studies, Faculty of Finance, Banking and Accountancy Bucharest,"Dimitrie Cantemir" Christian University Bucharest, vol. 3(2), pages 28-35, June.
    7. Seven, Unal & Coskun, Yener, 2016. "Does financial development reduce income inequality and poverty? Evidence from emerging countries," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 34-63.
    8. Nasreddine Kaidi & Sami Mensi, 2018. "Financial Development and Poverty Reduction: A Study of Middle-Income Countries," Working Papers 1216, Economic Research Forum, revised 05 Sep 2018.
    9. Sèna Kimm Gnangnon, 2023. "Do unilateral trade preferences help reduce poverty in beneficiary countries?," International Journal of Economic Policy Studies, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 249-288, February.
    10. Abosedra, Salah & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Nawaz, Kishwar, 2015. "Modeling Causality between Financial Deepening and Poverty Reduction in Egypt," MPRA Paper 67166, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 09 Oct 2015.
    11. Coulibaly, Aïssata & Yogo, Urbain Thierry, 2020. "The path to shared prosperity: Leveraging financial services outreach to create decent jobs in developing countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 131-147.
    12. Nasreddine Kaidi & Sami Mensi, 2020. "Financial Development, Income Inequality, and Poverty Reduction: Democratic Versus Autocratic Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 11(4), pages 1358-1381, December.
    13. US Thathsarani & Jianguo Wei & GRSRC Samaraweera, 2021. "Financial Inclusion’s Role in Economic Growth and Human Capital in South Asia: An Econometric Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-18, April.
    14. Acheampong, Alex O. & Appiah-Otoo, Isaac & Dzator, Janet & Agyemang, Kwabena Koforobour, 2021. "Remittances, financial development and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for post-COVID-19 macroeconomic policies," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 43(6), pages 1365-1387.
    15. Appiah-Otoo, Isaac & Chen, Xudong & Song, Na & Dumor, Koffi, 2022. "Financial development, institutional improvement, poverty reduction: The multiple challenges in West Africa," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 44(6), pages 1296-1312.
    16. Kpodar, Kangni & Singh, Raju Jan, 2011. "Does financial structure matter for poverty ? evidence from developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5915, The World Bank.
    17. Atul MEHTA & Joysankar BHATTACHARYA, 2018. "Financial sector development and the poor in developing countries: revisiting the access to finance channel," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania - AGER, vol. 0(3(616), A), pages 153-168, Autumn.
    18. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2021. "Do Unilateral Trade Preferences Help Reduce Poverty in Beneficiary Countries?," EconStor Preprints 247346, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    19. de Moraes, Claudio Oliveira & Cruz, Guilherme, 2023. "What do we know about the relationship between banks and income inequality? Empirical evidence for emerging and low-income countries," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    20. Yerrabati, Sridevi, 2022. "Does vulnerable employment alleviate poverty in developing countries?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    financial development; poverty; Sub-Saharan Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    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:ibn:ijefaa:v:9:y:2017:i:1:p:211-220. 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: Canadian Center of Science and Education (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cepflch.html .

    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.