Does financial inclusion improve sanitation access? Empirical evidence from low- and middle-income countries

ABSTRACT The existing literature does not probe the extent to which promoting financial inclusion can provide an enabling environment to improve access to sanitation services, which is one of the integral objectives of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6. This paper empirically examines if traditional and digital financial inclusion can influence access to sanitation services for 84 low- and middle-income countries covering the period 2000–17. Our results establish that both indicators of traditional and digital financial inclusion generate a strong, positive and robust influence on access to sanitation services in lower and middle-income countries, especially in rural areas.