Social safety and behavioral aspects of populations financial inclusion: A multicountry analysis

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the connection between behavioral aspects of populations financial inclusion and the level of social safety. The study was conducted in several stages: collecting the necessary input, determining The Index of socio-safety, selecting the most relevant factors that characterize the behavioral aspects of financial inclusion, determining the functional relationships between The Index of socio-safety and indicators describing critical behavioral issues of financial inclusion. The study involved 26 countries with different levels of economic development, and 18 indicators (10 characterized the behavioral aspects of financial involvement of the population, 8 - the world vectors of social safety). The Index of socio-safety was obtained with the help of PCA. Russian Federation and South Africa have the highest level of The Index among the studied countries. The lowest level of the calculated indicator is in Mozambique and Burkina Faso. Correlation and regression analysis revealed a statistically significant relationship between The Index of socio-safety and an increasing number of ATMs per 100,000 adults, usage of the internet to pay bills or to buy something online and increase the percentage of respondents who report having a credit card.