Purpose

This paper aims to test for spatial convergence in financial inclusion across major Indian states and union territories.

Design/methodology/approach

After initially building an Index of Financial Inclusion (IFI) for major Indian states between 2003 and 2016, exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) is employed to draw inferences about mean and variance of IFI. The paper then seeks to confirm the ESDA results through spatial panel regression techniques. Finally, spatial results are correlated with results from aspatial convergence measures.

Findings

The study finds that there is no evidence of spatial convergence in financial inclusion over the study period, suggesting that those states that were relatively less financially included remained so through the study period. The study also asserts the relevance of certain important determinants, namely, per capita income, infrastructure, industrialization and gender.

Research limitations/implications

This study has two limitations. First, only banking institutions are considered in measuring financial inclusion. Second, due to lack of a consistent indicator of gender participation across states, we had to employ sex ratio as a proxy.

Practical implications

The study suggests that policies to expand financial inclusion in Indian states, especially those with low inclusion levels are likely to benefit neighbouring states also, thereby accelerating the financial inclusion drive across states.

Originality/value

The study is a first in the Indian context to estimate the spatial dependence of financial inclusion and provides relevant implications for policymakers and bankers to target financial inclusion schemes in backward states.

中文翻译：

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印度主要州的金融包容性：一些空间面板计量经济学证据

目的

本文旨在测试印度主要州和工会领土在金融包容性方面的空间趋同性。

设计/方法/方法

在最初于2003年至2016年为印度主要州建立金融普惠指数（IFI）之后，采用探索性空间数据分析（ESDA）得出有关IFI均值和方差的推论。然后，本文试图通过空间面板回归技术来确认ESDA结果。最后，将空间结果与空间收敛措施的结果相关联。

发现

该研究发现，在研究期间没有证据表明金融包容性存在空间趋同性，这表明在整个研究期间，金融包容性相对较低的那些州仍然存在。该研究还断言某些重要决定因素的相关性，即人均收入，基础设施，工业化和性别。

研究局限/意义

这项研究有两个局限性。首先，仅考虑银行机构来衡量金融普惠性。其次，由于缺乏一个统一的跨州性别参与指标，我们不得不采用性别比例作为替代指标。

实际影响

该研究表明，在印度各州扩大金融包容性的政策，尤其是那些具有较低包容性的州，也可能使邻邦受益，从而加快了各州的金融包容性。

创意/价值

这项研究是印度首次评估金融包容性的空间依赖性，并为决策者和银行家针对落后国家的金融包容性计划提供了相关含义。