Keywords
financial inclusion
digital financial technologies
BRICS countries
sustainable development goals
path dependence
economic flexibility
digital platforms
fintech
behavioral patterns
How to Cite
Abstract
Most of the challenges to sustainable development are interconnected and systemic in nature, which makes achieving this goal particularly challenging. Research on these barriers and their solutions revealed that neither technological nor social innovation hinders the adoption of this development model. The main reason lies in the specific mechanisms for overcoming inertia, resistance to change, path dependency, and entering a new trajectory. One of the key spaces where the widest circles of the population are in close contact with new technologies is the financial sector. Fintech has significant potential to overcome these limitations, change behavioral patterns, reduce path dependence, and launch development on a new trajectory. The article provides a comprehensive analysis of these processes using the example of the expanded BRICS countries. It compares heterogeneous socioeconomic landscapes and assesses the readiness of the countries in question to master more complex development models, using digital banking as an example. The study identifies the blocking factors and suggests ways to overcome them. An interdisciplinary synthesis of the theories of narrative persuasion, evolutionary governance, and path dependence provides a new understanding of the interaction of financial systems, governance structures, and social behavior, upon which financial inclusiveness depends as a cornerstone for achieving balanced economic growth.
References
Abdu E., Adem M. (2021) Determinants of financial inclusion in Afar Region: Evidence from selected woredas. Cogent Economics & Finance, 9(1), 1920149. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2021.1920149.
Albrechts L. (2004) Strategic (Spatial) planning reexamined. Environment and Planning B, Planning & Design, 31(5), 743-758. https://doi.org/10.1068/b3065.
Allen F., Demirguc-Kunt A., Klapper L., Martinez Peria M.S. (2016) The Foundations of Financial Inclusion: Understanding Ownership and Use of Formal Accounts. Journal of Financial Intermediation, 27, 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfi.2015.12.003.
Arthur W.B. (1994) Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Beinhocker E.D. (2006) The Origin of Wealth: Evolution, Complexity, and the Radical Remaking of Economics, Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Press.
Chatterjee A. (2020) Financial inclusion, information and communication technology diffusion, and economic growth: a panel data analysis. Information Technology for Development, 26(3), 607-635. https://doi.org/10.1080/02681102.2020.1734770.
Demirgüç-Kunt A., Klapper L., Singer D., Ansar S. (2022) Global Findex Database 2021: Financial Inclusion, Digital Payments, and Resilience in the Age of COVID-19, Washington, DC: World Bank.
Di Zio S., Tontodimamma A., Fontanella L. (2023) Exploring the research dynamics of futures studies: An analysis of six top journals. Futures, 153, 103232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2023.103232.
Donnelly K. (2023) Imagined futures in the context of the energy transition: A case study from the Central Highlands Region of Queensland, Australia. Energy Research & Social Science, 103, 103216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2023.103216.
Evans O. (2018) Connecting the poor: The internet, mobile phones and financial inclusion in Africa. Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance, 20(6), 568-581. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPRG-04-2018-0018.
Fairbairn M. (2020) Fields of Gold: Financing the Global Land Rush, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Falaiye T., Elufioye O.A., Awonuga K.F., Ibeh C.V., Olatoye F.O., Mhlongo N.Z. (2024) FI Through Technology: A Review of Trends in Emerging Markets, International Journal of Management & Entrepreneurship Research, 6(2), 368-379. https://doi.org/10.51594/ijmer.v6i2.776.
Garud R., Kumaraswamy A., Karnøe P. (2010) Path Dependence or Path Creation? Journal of Management Studies, 47(4), 760-774. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2009.00914.x.
Goldstein J.E., Neimark B., Garvey B., Phelps J. (2023) Unlocking ‘‘lock-in” and path dependency: A review across disciplines and socio-environmental contexts. World Development, 161, 106116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106116.
Gowdy J., Baveye P. (2019) An Evolutionary Perspective on Industrial and Sustainable Agriculture. In: Agroecosystem Diversity Reconciling Contemporary Agriculture and Environmental Quality (eds. G. Lemaire, S. Kronberg, P.C. De Faccio Carvalho, S. Recous), Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 425-433. https://doi.org/10.1016/C2016-0-00198-5.
Iammarino S., Rodríguez-Pose A., Storper M. (2019) Regional Inequality in Europe: Evidence, Theory and Policy Implications. Journal of Economic Geography, 19(2), 273-298. https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lby021.
Inayatullah S., Sweeney J.A. (2021) From Strategic to Transformative Foresight: Using Space to Transform Time. World Futures Review, 13(1), 27-33. https://doi.org/10.1177/1946756720971743.
Johnson S.G.B., Bilovich A., Tuckett D. (2022) Conviction Narrative Theory: A Theory of Choice Under Radical Uncertainty. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 46, e82. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X22001157.
Kumar Vaid Y., Singh V., Sethi M. (2020) Determinants of Successful Financial Inclusion in Low-Income Rural Population. The Indian Economic Journal, 68(1), 82-100. https://doi.org/10.1177/0019466220962057.
Lauer K., Lyman T. (2015) Digital Financial Inclusion: Implications for Customers, Regulators, Supervisors, and Standard-Setting Bodies, Washington, D.C.: Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP).
Liu K., Ren Y., Yang F. (2024) Do national innovation policies lead to technological specialization or diversification? The role of path dependence and spatial spillovers. Economic Analysis and Policy, 84, 499-520. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eap.2024.09.013.
Martin R. (2012) Regional economic resilience, hysteresis and recessionary shocks. Journal of Economic Geography, 12(1), 1-32. https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lbr019.
Mitchell K., Scott R.H. (2019) Pesos or Plastic? Financial Inclusion, Taxation, and Development in South America, Cham, Springer.
OECD (2020) Digital Transformation in the Age of COVID-19: Building Resilience and Bridging Divides, Paris: OECD.
OECD (2022) OECD/INFE Toolkit for Measuring Financial Literacy and FI 2022, Paris: OECD.
OECD (2023) Financial Consumers and Sustainable Finance: Policy Implications and Approaches, Paris: OECD.
Oreg S. (2003) Resistance to Change: Developing an Individual Differences Measure. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(4), 680-693. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.4.680.
Pike A., Rodríguez-Pose A., Tomaney J. (2007) What kind of local and regional development and for whom? Regional Studies, 41(9), 1253-1269. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343400701543355.
Polack F. (1972) Prognostics, New York: Deventer.
Pradhan R.P., Arvin M.B., Nair M.S., Hall J.H., Bennett S.E. (2021) Sustainable economic development in India: The dynamics between financial inclusion, ICT development, and economic growth. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 169, 120758. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.120758.
Puckett K. (2016) Narrative Theory: A Critical Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139522502.
Purva K., Ng S., Ogawa S., Sahay R. (2021) Measuring Digital FI in Emerging Market and Developing Economies: A New Index (IMF Working Paper WP/21/90, March 2021), Washington, D.C.: IMF.
PwC (2021) Navigating the payments matrix. Charting a course amid evolution and revolution, London: Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
Stöhr W., Taylor D.R. (1981) Development from above or below? The dialectics of regional planning in developing countries (IIR-Discussion Paper No. 10). Vienna: Vienna University of Economics and Business.
Talbi M. (2024) The Epistemic Import of Narratives. Social Epistemology, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/02691728.2024.2356518.
Tian Y., Xiang Z. (2023) The impact of financial technology on commercial banks: Evidence from China, Sabah: Universiti Malaysia Sabah.
Tsai K.S. (2017) FinTech and Financial Inclusion in China, Kowloon, Hong Kong: HKUST Institute for Emerging Market Studies.
Tuckett D., Holmes D., Pearson A., Chaplin G. (2020) Monetary policy and the management of uncertainty: A narrative approach, London: Bank of England.
Tversky A., Kahneman D. (1974) Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases. Science, 185(4157), 1124-1131. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.185.4157.1124.
Umar M., Rizvi S.K.A., Naqvi B. (2021) Dance with the devil? The nexus of fourth industrial revolution, technological financial products, and volatility spillovers in global financial system. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 163, 120450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120450.
UN (2017) Financing Sustainable Urban Development in the LDCs, Geneva: United Nations.
Van Assche K., Gruezmacher M., Vodden K., Gibson R., Deacon L. (2021) Reinvention paths and reinvention paradox: Strategic change in Western Newfoundland communities. Futures, 128 (2021) 102713. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2021.102713.
Walden E.A., Browne G.J. (2009) Sequential Adoption Theory: A Theory for Understanding Herding Behavior in Early Adoption of Novel Technologies. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 10(1), https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00181.
World Bank (2022) FI Overview, Washington, D.C.: World Bank.
Yang F., Masron T.A. (2023) Does FI moderate the effect of digital transformation on banks’ performance in China? Cogent Economics & Finance, 11(2), 2267270. https://doi.org/10.1080/23322039.2023.2267270.
Zins A., Weill L. (2016) The determinants of financial inclusion in Africa. Review of Development Finance, 6(1), 46-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rdf.2016.05.001.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.