Financial Inclusion & Economic Development

Financial development enhances human development, and access to financial services makes a positive impact on people's lives particularly poor people. In addition, financial development reduces income inequality and boosts incomes. Over the last few decades, policymakers have considered financial sector reforms that promote financial inclusion. This paper attempts to show how financial inclusion is correlated with standard measures of economic development and economic well-being. To this end, we first measure the extent of financial inclusion by comparing economies and regions over time. Then, using this index of financial inclusion, we identify the factors associated with financial inclusion using a simple econometric model. This book, provides a new index of financial inclusion for Turkey and EU and this measurement has been developed to allow for comparison of other EU countries with Turkey in terms of financial inclusion and how “improved” financial inclusion can impact Turkey and EU member countries.