Essays on financial market regulatory frameworks and financial inclusion

This dissertation examined how financial market regulation influences credit supply and pricing in segmented and underserved markets, with particular focus on non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) and microfinance institutions (MFIs). The study explored a key policy dilemma: while regulation aims to enhance consumer protection and financial stability, it can also restrict access to credit for lower-income households and small enterprises if not properly calibrated to account for institutional diversity and cost structures. To investigate this, the research utilised three empirical and conceptual essays. In the first essay, a systematic review of 46 studies identified nine regulatory themes – covering prudential and non-prudential elements, market conduct rules, institutional entry requirements, and technology governance – that affect NBFIs' capacity to serve marginalised borrowers, highlighting the need for proportionate and specialised oversight. A second essay employed quarterly disbursement data (2007–2024) and a segmented Vector Error Correction Model to assess the impact of South Africa’s National Credit Act on credit flows. The findings indicated that non-prudential regulatory tightening constrains credit to lower-income individuals and SMMEs, whereas higher-income markets tend to be more responsive to macroeconomic fluctuations, demonstrating the differentiated transmission of regulatory shocks. The final essay extended Rosenberg’s cost-recovery model by incorporating outreach depth and operational efficiency into a revised pricing framework, applied to panel data from over 1,800 MFIs across 90 countries (2003–2018). The results showed systematic differences in sustainable pricing among institutional types and outreach strategies, with deep-outreach institutions requiring higher cost-recovery rates and often pricing above sustainable benchmarks. Collectively, the findings suggested that inclusive financial outcomes are more likely when regulatory design accounts for institutional heterogeneity, calibrates consumer-protection measures to prevent unintended exclusion, and supports pricing frameworks that reflect the operational realities of MFIs and NBFIs.

Grantor dc:publisher

Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Seymour, Mark Lewis

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Adjasi, Charles

Language dc:language.iso

en

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135865

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135865