IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/agd/wpaper/13-036.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

New financial development indicators: with a critical contribution to inequality empirics

Author

Listed:
  • Asongu Simplice

    (Yaoundé/Cameroun)

Abstract

The employment of financial development indicators without due consideration to country/regional specific financial development realities remains an issue of substantial policy relevance. Financial depth in the perspective of money supply is not equal to liquid liabilities in every development context. This paper introduces complementary indicators to the existing Financial Development and Structure Database (FDSD). Dynamic panel system GMM estimations are applied. Different specifications, non-overlapping intervals and control variables are used to check the consistency of estimated coefficients. Our results suggest that from an absolute standpoint (GDP base measures), all financial sectors are pro-poor. However, three interesting findings are drawn from measures of sector importance. (1) The expansion of the formal financial sector to the detriment of other financial sectors has a disequalizing income effect. (2) Growth of informal and semi-formal financial sectors at the expense of the formal financial sector has an income equalizing effect. (3) The positive income redistributive effect of semi-formal finance in financial sector competition is higher than the corresponding impact of informal finance. It unites two streams of research by contributing at the same time to the macroeconomic literature on measuring financial development and responding to the growing field of economic development by means of informal financial sector promotion and microfinance. The paper suggests a practicable way to disentangle the effects of the various financial sectors on economic development. The equation of financial depth in the perspective of money supply to liquid liabilities has put on the margin the burgeoning informal financial sector in developing countries. The phenomenon of mobile banking is such an example.

Suggested Citation

  • Asongu Simplice, 2013. "New financial development indicators: with a critical contribution to inequality empirics," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 13/036, African Governance and Development Institute..
    • Handle: RePEc:agd:wpaper:13/036
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.afridev.org/RePEc/agd/agd-wpaper/New-financial-indicators-and-inequality-empirics.pdf
    File Function: Revised version, 2013
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Simplice Asongu, 2015. "Liberalisation and Financial Sector Competition: A Critical Contribution to the Empirics with an African Assessment," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 83(3), pages 425-451, September.
    2. Simplice A. Asongu, 2014. "Knowledge Economy and Financial Sector Competition in African Countries," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 26(2), pages 333-346, June.
    3. Asongu Simplice, 2013. "Mobile banking and mobile phone penetration: which is more pro-poor in Africa?," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 13/033, African Governance and Development Institute..
    4. Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Ross Levine, 2008. "Finance, Financial Sector Policies, and Long-Run Growth," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 28021.
    5. Simplice A Asongu, 2013. "How do financial reforms affect inequality through financial sector competition? Evidence from Africa," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(1), pages 401-414.
    6. Demetriades, Panicos O. & Hussein, Khaled A., 1996. "Does financial development cause economic growth? Time-series evidence from 16 countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 387-411, December.
    7. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 1999. "A new database on financial development and structure," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2146, The World Bank.
    8. Albanesi, Stefania, 2007. "Inflation and inequality," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(4), pages 1088-1114, May.
    9. By Ales BulÌr, 2001. "Income Inequality: Does Inflation Matter?," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 48(1), pages 1-5.
    10. Claessens, Stijn & Demirguc-Kunt, Asl[iota] & Huizinga, Harry, 2001. "How does foreign entry affect domestic banking markets?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 891-911, May.
    11. Enowbi Batuo, Michael & Guidi, Francesco & Mlambo, Kupukile, 2010. "Financial Development and Income Inequality: Evidence from African Countries," MPRA Paper 25658, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Michael Enowbi‐Batuo & Mlambo Kupukile, 2010. "How can economic and political liberalisation improve financial development in African countries?," Journal of Financial Economic Policy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 2(1), pages 35-59, April.
    13. Hassan, M. Kabir & Sanchez, Benito & Yu, Jung-Suk, 2011. "Financial development and economic growth: New evidence from panel data," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 88-104, February.
    14. Simplice A. Asongu, 2013. "Investment And Inequality In Africa: Which Financial Channels Are Good For The Poor?," The African Finance Journal, Africagrowth Institute, vol. 15(2), pages 43-65.
    15. Simplice A. Asongu, 2013. "How has Mobile Phone Penetration Stimulated Financial Development in Africa?," Journal of African Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 7-18, April.
    16. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    17. Hisako Kai & Shigeyuki Hamori, 2009. "Globalization, financial depth, and inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 29(3), pages 2025-2037.
    18. Gries, Thomas & Kraft, Manfred & Meierrieks, Daniel, 2009. "Linkages Between Financial Deepening, Trade Openness, and Economic Development: Causality Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 1849-1860, December.
    19. Oded Galor & Joseph Zeira, 1993. "Income Distribution and Macroeconomics," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 60(1), pages 35-52.
    20. Suleiman Abu‐Bader & Aamer S. Abu‐Qarn, 2008. "Financial Development and Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from Six MENA Countries," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(4), pages 803-817, November.
    21. Simplice Asongu, 2015. "Financial Sector Competition and Knowledge Economy: Evidence from SSA and MENA Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 6(4), pages 717-748, December.
    22. Simplice Asongu, 2013. "Harmonizing IPRs on Software Piracy: Empirics of Trajectories in Africa," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 45-60, November.
    23. Robert G. King & Ross Levine, 1993. "Finance and Growth: Schumpeter Might Be Right," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 717-737.
    24. Sandrine Kablan, 2010. "Banking Efficiency and Financial Development in Sub-Saharan Africa," IMF Working Papers 2010/136, International Monetary Fund.
    25. Asongu, Simplice A., 2013. "How do institutions matter in the income-equalizing effect of mobile phone penetration?," European Economic Letters, European Economics Letters Group, vol. 2(2), pages 56-61.
    26. 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 274-298, April.
    27. Subal C. Kumbhakar & George Mavrotas, 2005. "Financial Sector Development and Productivity Growth," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2005-68, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    28. Philip Arestis & Asena Caner, 2010. "Capital account liberalisation and poverty: how close is the link?," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 34(2), pages 295-323, March.
    29. Ang, James B. & McKibbin, Warwick J., 2007. "Financial liberalization, financial sector development and growth: Evidence from Malaysia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 215-233, September.
    30. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    31. 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.
    32. 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.
    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. Simplice Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu & Gilbert A. A. Aminkeng, 2014. "China’s Strategies in Economic Diplomacy: A Survey of Updated Lessons for Africa, the West and China," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 14/036, African Governance and Development Institute..
    2. Asongu, Simplice, 2013. "Mobile banking and mobile phone penetration: which is more pro-poor in Africa?," MPRA Paper 56800, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Christian Lambert NGUENA & Roger TSAFACK NANFOSSO, 2014. "Macroeconomic Factors and Dynamics of Financial Deepening: An empirical Investigation applied to the CEMAC Sub-region," Research Africa Network Working Papers 14/015, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    4. Asongu, Simplice & Nwachukwu, Jacinta & Aminkeng, Gilbert A. A, 2018. "Lessons from a Survey of China’s Economic Diplomacy," MPRA Paper 88521, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Simplice A. Asongu, 2015. "May the Soul of the IFS Financial System Definition RIP in Developing Countries," The International Journal of Economic Behavior - IJEB, Faculty of Business and Administration, University of Bucharest, vol. 5(1), pages 15-30, December.
    6. NGUENA Christian-Lambert, 2014. "External Debt Origin, Capital Flight and Poverty Reduction in the Franc Zone: Does the Economic Consequences of Sino-African Relationship matter?," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 14/016, African Governance and Development Institute..
    7. Asongu, Simplice A, 2014. "Sino-African relations: a review and reconciliation of dominant schools of thought," MPRA Paper 66597, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Simplice A. Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu & Gilbert A. A. Aminkeng, 2018. "Lessons from a Survey of China’s Economic Diplomacy," Research Africa Network Working Papers 18/009, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    9. Simplice A. Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu & Gilbert A. A. Aminkeng, 2014. "China’s Strategies in Economic Diplomacy: A Survey of Updated Lessons for Africa, the West and China," Research Africa Network Working Papers 14/036, Research Africa Network (RAN).

    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. Simplice Asongu, 2015. "Liberalisation and Financial Sector Competition: A Critical Contribution to the Empirics with an African Assessment," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 83(3), pages 425-451, September.
    2. Barbara Francioni & Barbara Francioni, 2017. "The Italian Sounding Phenomenon: The Case Of Germany," The International Journal of Economic Behavior - IJEB, Faculty of Business and Administration, University of Bucharest, vol. 7(1), pages 39-50.
    3. Maryem Cherni, 2016. "The Role of Information Diffusion on Farmers Good Agricultural Practices: A Social Network Point of View – The Case of the French Agro-Environmental Practices," The International Journal of Economic Behavior - IJEB, Faculty of Business and Administration, University of Bucharest, vol. 6(1), pages 31-40.
    4. Simplice Asongu & Rexon Nting, 2021. "The role of finance in inclusive human development in Africa revisited," Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 38(2), pages 345-370, February.
    5. Asongu, Simplice & Nwachukwu, Jacinta C., 2015. "Finance and Inclusive Human Development: Evidence from Africa," MPRA Paper 71787, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. 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.
    7. Asongu, Simplice, 2013. "Mobile banking and mobile phone penetration: which is more pro-poor in Africa?," MPRA Paper 56800, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Meniago, Christelle & Asongu, Simplice A., 2018. "Revisiting the finance-inequality nexus in a panel of African countries," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 399-419.
    9. Simplice A. Asongu, 2015. "May the Soul of the IFS Financial System Definition RIP in Developing Countries," The International Journal of Economic Behavior - IJEB, Faculty of Business and Administration, University of Bucharest, vol. 5(1), pages 15-30, December.
    10. Simplice A., Asongu, 2011. "New financial intermediary development indicators for developing countries," MPRA Paper 30921, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Asongu Simplice & Michael E. Batuo, 2012. "The Impact of Liberalisation Policies on Inequality in Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 12/038, African Governance and Development Institute..
    12. Simplice A. Asongu, 2014. "Knowledge Economy and Financial Sector Competition in African Countries," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 26(2), pages 333-346, June.
    13. Simplice Asongu, 2015. "The impact of mobile phone penetration on African inequality," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 42(8), pages 706-716, August.
    14. Asongu, Simplice, 2015. "Financial development in Africa - a critical examination," MPRA Paper 82131, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Samargandi, Nahla & Fidrmuc, Jan & Ghosh, Sugata, 2015. "Is the Relationship Between Financial Development and Economic Growth Monotonic? Evidence from a Sample of Middle-Income Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 66-81.
    16. Simplice A Asongu, 2014. "On the substitution of institutions and finance in investment," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 34(3), pages 1557-1574.
    17. Simplice A. Asongu & Paul N. Acha-Anyi, 2017. "ICT, conflicts in financial intermediation and financial access: evidence of synergy and threshold effects," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 131-168, December.
    18. Simplice A Asongu, 2013. "How has politico-economic liberalization affected financial allocation efficiency? Fresh African evidence," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(1), pages 663-676.
    19. Simplice A. Asongu & Lieven De Moor, 2015. "Recent advances in finance for inclusive development: a survey," Research Africa Network Working Papers 15/005, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    20. Asongu Simplice, 2014. "Fresh Patterns of Liberalization, Bank Return and Return Uncertainty in Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 14/004, African Governance and Development Institute..

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial Development; Shadow Economy; Poverty; Inequality; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E00 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - General
    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:agd:wpaper:13/036. 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: Asongu Simplice (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/agdiycm.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.