رابطه ی توسعه ی مالی و کاهش فقر :یک هم انباشتگی و تحلیل علیت در بنگلادش

This paper contributes to the literature by investigating the relationship between financial development, economic growth and poverty reduction in Bangladesh using quarter frequency data over the period of 1975–2011. This issue is of importance for developing economics given the role of financial sector in mobilizing and allocating savings into productive investments. We use an innovative empirical approach based on ARDL cointegration with structural breaks. Our findings show that a long-run relationship between financial development, economic growth and poverty reduction exists in Bangladesh. Financial development helps to reduce poverty, but its effect is not linear.

The interrelationship between financial development and economic growth is extensive on the theoretical and empirical literature. The similar imperative aspects of the linkage between financial development and poverty reduction cannot be substantially found in the earlier literature. The impact of finance on poverty has been largely inconclusive and unclear from empirical front due to the change in the level of income which results from financial sector reforms, really leads to poverty reduction in developing countries. Poverty reduction strategy will take more importance in compare to the growth model for the developing countries. This is due to the fact that economic progress lead to increase in growth, does not necessarily improve the lives of poor (Todaro, 1997).

This study explored the relationship between financial development, economic growth and poverty reduction in the case of Bangladesh. The quarter frequency was used over the period of 1975–2011. The order of integration of the variables was investigated by applying structural break unit root test. The long-run relationship between the variables was examined by applying the ARDL bounds testing while using dummy to accommodate for a structural break stemming in the series. Our results show that variables are cointegrated over the long-run. The causality analysis reveals that Bangladeshi policymakers can influence the reduction of poverty by encouraging financial sector development. Sound financial sectors will promote better and more access to institutional credits availability to the people who are living in poverty (Rahman, 2011 and Uddin et al., 2012). However, we show that economic growth is weakly accelerated by financial development and poverty reduction. On the other hand, taking poverty reducing measures would put the economy on a higher growth path which will facilitate further reform in developing the financial sector. The rising economic growth rate of the 1990s has had a positive impact on poverty reduction. But the increased growth and declining poverty has not brought about a more equitable distribution of income. In fact, the distribution of income has become more unequal over time with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer (GOB and UNDP, 2011). To accelerate poverty reduction, the government may adopt a new policy asking all commercial banks to provide a certain percentage of loans to the SMEs that will be helpful for reducing poverty through creating employment opportunities in the country.