Financial inclusion : the role of financial system and other determinants
type: CreativeWork
description: The promotion of access to finance is considered as a top priority agenda in many countries. Finding the related and strong factors to enhance financial inclusion is therefore becoming crucial. Despite many studies on the factors associated with financial inclusion, the role of financial system has not been well explored. Leyshon & Thrift (1995) shed new lights on this issue by stating that “Although the criteria for exclusion may vary over time, the financial system has an inherent tendency to discriminate against poor and disadvantaged groups”. This thesis, therefore investigates the role of financial system and other determinants in shaping financial inclusion, based on institutional theory. The design of the study takes account two lacunae in our current understanding of this topic. Firstly, despite the fact that the financial inclusion literature is voluminous, it is perhaps surprising that relatively little research has been carried out on the effect of Islamic finance on financial inclusion, given its possible significant role as one of the contributing factors that creating and shaping financial inclusion. Empirically testing for the effect of Islamic financial sector (as proxied by Islamic banking presence) is challenging because the data on Islamic banking are imperfect since there is no single accepted definition of an Islamic bank nor is there a single and comprehensive database on it. To this juncture, our understanding in this field remains incomplete. Secondly, besides the role of financial system, empirical evidence on the other financial inclusion determinants is relatively lacking and far from conclusive. Notably, a direct or indirect relationships and significance levels are commonly observed. Under the notion of institutional theory, the institutional settings are heterogeneous, and therefore affect the institutional differences and in turn increased structure of the financial inclusion level. In response to these two major issues, this study emp…
abstract: The promotion of access to finance is considered as a top priority agenda in many countries. Finding the related and strong factors to enhance financial inclusion is therefore becoming crucial. Despite many studies on the factors associated with financial inclusion, the role of financial system has not been well explored. Leyshon & Thrift (1995) shed new lights on this issue by stating that “Although the criteria for exclusion may vary over time, the financial system has an inherent tendency to discriminate against poor and disadvantaged groups”. This thesis, therefore investigates the role of financial system and other determinants in shaping financial inclusion, based on institutional theory. The design of the study takes account two lacunae in our current understanding of this topic. Firstly, despite the fact that the financial inclusion literature is voluminous, it is perhaps surprising that relatively little research has been carried out on the effect of Islamic finance on financial inclusion, given its possible significant role as one of the contributing factors that creating and shaping financial inclusion. Empirically testing for the effect of Islamic financial sector (as proxied by Islamic banking presence) is challenging because the data on Islamic banking are imperfect since there is no single accepted definition of an Islamic bank nor is there a single and comprehensive database on it. To this juncture, our understanding in this field remains incomplete. Secondly, besides the role of financial system, empirical evidence on the other financial inclusion determinants is relatively lacking and far from conclusive. Notably, a direct or indirect relationships and significance levels are commonly observed. Under the notion of institutional theory, the institutional settings are heterogeneous, and therefore affect the institutional differences and in turn increased structure of the financial inclusion level. In response to these two major issues, this study emp…
author: Abu Seman, J
language: en
date published: 2026
date modified: 2026-07-24T04:26:38Z
provider: U. of Salford
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: U. of Salford