Financial Development and Income Inequality: Evidence from African Countries in the Franc Zone
- 1 Faculty of Economics and Applied Management, University of Douala, Douala, Cameroon
- 2 Faculty of Economics and Applied Management, University of Douala, Douala, Cameroon
Abstract
The aim of this article is to evaluate the effect of financial development on income inequality in a sample of African countries of the Franc Zone. Using data from Worldwide Governance indicators, UNESCO, COBAC, the Banking Commission of West African States and the World Bank, based on cylindrical dynamic panel whose instrumentalisation and stationarity of variables enabled us to use GMM in system, the results show that financial development through its components which are credit to the private sector, network development as well as the monetary mass significantly reduce income inequality among households. This result is robust by alternative or dual use of the components as well as when several control variables are integrated.
- Banque Mondiale (2015) World Development Indicators. World Bank, Washington DC.
- Greenwood, J. and Jovanovic, B. (1990) Financial Development, Growth and the Distribution of Income. Journal of Political Economy, 98, 1076-1107. https://doi.org/10.1086/261720
- Bulir, A. (1998) Income Inequality: Does Inflation Matter? IMF Working Paper, wp/98/7.
- Lopez, H. (2003) Macroeconomics and Inequality, Macroeconomic Challenges in Low Income Countries. Workshop, 28 p.
- Clarke, G., Xu, L.C. and Zou, H. (2003) Finance and Income Inequality: Test of Alternative Theories. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, No. 2984.
- Aghion, P., Howitt, P. and Mayer-Foulkes, D. (2005) The Effect of Financial Development on Convergence: Theory and Evidence. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 120, 173-222.
- El Ghak, T. and Zarrouk, H. (2010) Développement Financier et écarts de Revenus des Pays: Une Analyse Empirique sur Données de Panel. Région et Développement, 32, 59-90.
- Galor, O. and Zeira, J. (1993) Income Distribution and Macroeconomics. Review of Economic Studies, 60, 35-52. https://doi.org/10.2307/2297811
- Banerjee, A.V. and Newman, A. (1993) Occupational Choice and the Process of Development. Journal of Political Economy, 101, 274-298. https://doi.org/10.1086/261876
- Zchicheng, L. (2006) Financial Development and Income Inequality in Rural China 1991-2000. Ed UNU-Wider, Research Paper No. 2006/96, Helsinki.
- Ben Naceur, S. and Zhang, R. (2016) Financial Development, Inequality and Poverty: Some International Evidence. Working Paper No. 16/32.
- King, R. and Levine, R. (1993) Finance and Growth: Schumpeter Might Be Right? Quarterly Journal of Economics, 108, 717-737. https://doi.org/10.2307/2118406
- Kpodar, K.R. (2006) Développement financier, Instabilité financière et croissance économique: Implications pour la réduction de la pauvreté Thèse de doctorat, Université d’Auvergne—Clermont I.
- Kuznets, S. (1955) Economic Growth and Income Inequality. The American Economic Review, 45, 1-28.
- Guillaumont, J.-S. and Kpodar, K. (2004) Financial Development, Financial Instability and Poverty. WPS/2005-08, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford, Oxford.
- Dhrifi, A. (2013) Financial Development and the “Growth-Inequality-Poverty” Triangle: A Comparative Study between Developed and Developing Countries. International Journal, 2, 472-481.