4
Video recordings, papers, and presentation
slides are available at
Co-hosted by HKUST IEMS and the National University of
Singapore’s Centre on Asia and Globalisation (CAG) at the Lee
Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP), the one-and-a-half day
workshop was held on the HKUST campus and open to the public.
The workshop included sessions on themes such as measurements
and determinants of financial inclusion, country-specific cases
in Asia on the topic of financial inclusion, financial literacy and
development in emerging Asia, credit constraints and distributive
impacts, monetary policy, and models of financial inclusion.
Laurent Weill
, Professor of Economics at the University of
Strasbourg, detailed his study of various Asian countries based on
the World Bank’s Global Financial Index (Findex) database, which
finds major similarities and differences in financial inclusion across
Asian countries. With respect to similarities, gender generally does
not influence the use of formal banking/saving in Asian countries,
although it does influence the use of formal credit. Age strongly
favors financial inclusion, as does higher education and income
levels. With respect to differences across countries, Prof. Weill
found that ownership of bank accounts varies considerably across
Asian countries (but is strongly related to GDP per capita in each
country), and the use of formal bank credit was lowest amongst
relatively developed regions such as China, Hong Kong, and
Japan.
Regarding the distributive impacts of financial inclusion in
Asia,
Anand Srinivasan
, Associate Professor of Finance at
the National University of Singapore, and
Ashok Thampy
,
Associate Professor of Finance and Control at the Indian Institute
of Management Bangalore, presented their study on firm
relationships with government-owned versus private banks in
India. Analyzing data on publicly traded companies in India, they
found that banking with a government-owned bank reduced
investment sensitivity to cash flow (a measure of the degree
of credit access) by approximately 30% compared to banking
with private banks. These findings reveal a beneficial aspect of
governmental involvement in corporate lending markets.
Sergio Schmukler
, Lead Economist in the Development
Research Group at the World Bank, presented his study of capital
raising activity (issuing bonds, taking loans, selling equity) using
data on 45,000 publicly listed firms in 51 countries over the period
2003 to 2011. He found that fostering capital markets tended to
benefit only a small amount of very large firms, with little to no
benefit for smaller firms. However, for both large and small firms
alike, a direct, positive connection exists between the issuance of
bonds and firm growth across countries.
Other speakers and participants at the workshop included
Albert Park
(HKUST),
Mandira Sarma
(JNU),
Ramkishen
Rajan
(GMU and NUS),
Ji Yeon Jean Hong
(HKUST),
Peter
Mackay
(HKUST),
Cyn-Young Park
(Asian Development Bank),
Sasidaran Gopalan
(HKUST),
Tony Cavoli
(University of
South Austrailia),
Rabin Hattari
(Asian Development Bank),
Ganga Tilakaratna
(Institute of Policy Studies),
Xiao Geng
(Fung Global Institute),
Naoyuki Yoshino
(Asian Development
Bank Institute),
Tomoo Kikuchi
(CAG),
Sujata Visaria
(HKUST),
Christina Jenq
(HKUST),
Aaron Mehrota
(Bank
of International Settlements),
Kellee Tsai
(HKUST),
Rajesh
Chakrabarti
(Indian School of Business),
Kaushiki Sanyal
(Indian School of Business),
Moekti Soejachmoen
(Mandiri
Institute), and
Sujata Balasubramanian
(HKUST)
Understanding Financial Inclusion in Asia
HKUST IEMS – CAG Workshop
(2015.05.20)
