Search

Adoption of technology in the financial services industry has been accelerating in recent years. To assess its contribution to financial inclusion, we develop a novel digital financial inclusion index covering 52 emerging market and developing economies. We find that (i) the adoption of digital financial services has been a key driver of financial inclusion; and (ii) there is wide variation across countries and regions, with the greatest progress recorded in Africa and Asia. Given the accelerated adoption of digital payments during the COVID‐19 pandemic, policies are needed to close the digital divide to ensure continued progress in financial inclusion and safeguard trust in financial services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to adapt the controversial sociological concept of 'Middle Class' to an African agriculture-based economy, exemplified by Madagascar, we propose the concept of Moderate Prosperity. As a case study, we use detailed data from 508 households in the 2008 Itasy Observatory. We stratify them using four distinguishing socio-economic factors: household income quintile, head of household's education level, income structure and land tenure. We describe four Moderate Prosperity clusters that reflect the agro-economic diversity of the Itasy region: a vulnerable group of agriculturally diversified households in the third income quintile with locally issued land title; an emerging group of skilled, polyculture farmers belonging to both the lowest and highest quintiles; a traditional group of uneducated rice farmers in the fourth quintile with traditional land ownership; and an upper group of educated livestock farmers, non-agricultural independents and workers, belonging to the top income quintile with locally issued land title. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]