E-Book Overview
Broad-based and inclusive financial systems can significantly aid financial development, reduce poverty, and expand economic opportunity in developing countries. Poor households and individuals often have difficulty obtaining financial services for a multitude of reasons, including transaction costs, perceived risk, inadequate legal and financial infrastructure, and information barriers. Yet many financial institutions have begun making profitable inroads into these underserved markets through the continuing expansion of financial access and microfinance. The authors in this volume take stock of what has been accomplished so far and address the challenges that remain in making financial systems more inclusive. They examine methods for measuring financial access, the link between access and poverty reduction, the question of private profitability and social returns, the role of commercial banks in improving financial access, the need for innovative financial and technological infrastructure, and the ways government policies can expand access. Building Inclusive Financial Systems offers an indispensable guide for governments and the private sector to increase access effectively and responsibly. Contributors: Michael S. Barr (University of Michigan Law School), Xavier Gine (World Bank), Mukta Joshi (consultant, World Bank), Anjali Kumar (World Bank), Robert E. Litan (Kauffman Foundation and Brookings Institution), Ajai Nair (consultant, World Bank), Stephen Peachey (World Savings Banks Institute), David Porteous (Bankable Frontier Associates), Loraine Ronchi (World Bank), Konstantinos Tzioumis (World Bank), J. D. von Pischke (Frontier Finance International) World Bank/IMF/Brookings Emerging Markets Series
E-Book Content
Michael S. Barr, Anjali Kumar, and Robert E. Litan EDITORS
Building Inclusive Financial Systems A Framework for Financial Access
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BUILDING INCLUSIVE FINANCIAL SYSTEMS
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the world bank group the brookings institution This book is based on the seventh annual financial markets and development conference held May 30–31, 2006, in Washington, D.C. The conference was jointly sponsored by the World Bank Group and the Brookings Institution. The previous volumes in this series are available from the Brookings Institution Press: Financial Markets and Development: The Crisis in Emerging Markets (1999) Managing Financial and Corporate Distress: Lessons from Asia (2000) Open Doors: Foreign Participation in Financial Systems in Developing Countries (2001) Financial Sector Governance: The Roles of the Public and Private Sectors (2002) The Future of Domestic Capital Markets in Development Countries (2003) The Future of State-Owned Financial Institutions (2004) Financial Crises: Lessons from the Past, Preparation for the Future (2005)
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michael s. barr anjali kumar robert e. litan Editors
BUILDING INCLUSIVE FINANCIAL SYSTEMS A Framework for Financial Access
brookings institution press Washington, D.C.
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ABOUT BROOKINGS The Brookings Institution is a private nonprofit organization devoted to research, education, and publication on important issues of domestic and foreign policy. Its principal purpose is to bring the highest quality independent research and analysis to bear on current and emerging policy problems. Interpretations or conclusions in Brookings publications should be understood to be solely those of the authors. Copyright © 2007 THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036 www.brookings.edu All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be r