ICT diffusion and financial development: Comparing high, middle, and low-income countries

Abstract

Given the importance of ICT diffusion in the development of the financial sector, this analysis is an effort to analyze the transmission channels between the two in high-income and middle and low-income economies over 2001–2019. We have used three variables, including the ICT index, individuals using the internet, and mobile subscribers, to represent ICT and three indices, including the financial development index, financial institution index, and financial market index, to make our results reliable and robust. We utilized a GMM method for conducting the empirical analysis. Generally, our results imply that ICT diffusion positively impacts financial development in high-income economies and negatively impacts middle and low-income economies. Our findings suggest that middle- and low-income-economy policymakers should follow the footprint of the high-income economies and increase the role of ICT in the financial sector for its development.