| Abstract [eng] |
The creation and calculation of financial inclusion index is the key process, which helps distinguish each country’s financial development and identify the weakest and strongest regions in the world. However, the creation of financial inclusion index is a challenging process. In the context of financial inclusion phenomena, key challenges are the lack of statistical data, the inconsistence of available data and a variety of suggested methodologies that do not include sustainable development goals, which are an integral part of economic, social and environmental growth. The purpose of this final master’s project is to improve the methodology of financial inclusion index by including indicators, which are dedicated to evaluate the progress of sustainable development goals. The analysis of previous research let to the conclusion that there is a strong relationship between financial inclusion and Sustainable Development Goals. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to create an improved version of the construct of financial inclusion index. The index was calculated for 124 countries in 2011, 2014 and 2017. Afterwards, results were distributed among four clusters by using an algorithm of self-organizing map. Finally, the new construct of financial inclusion index was validated by applying the approach of linear regression. During this process, Global Competitiveness Index was used to check the quality of the created financial inclusion construct. Results of this analysis assures that the quality of improved index is acceptable for practical usage by international organizations and companies. |
