Determinants of Women's Financial Inclusion: Evidence from the Gulf and the Western Balkan Region

Women's financial inclusion represents a key element in enhancing women's entrepreneurship. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of age, education, employment, income quintile, and region on the level of financial inclusion (FI). The data for the four Gulf countries (Gulf Cooperation Council) and five Western Balkan countries were gathered from the Global Findex Database 2017. The total sample includes 3,973 women. Multiple linear regression is used to investigate the impact of socio-demographic factors on FI. Additionally, the paper provides an overview of the latest available data on several indicators related to FI at the macro level. The results show that education, employment, and income quintile have a statistically significant positive impact on FI. The relationship between age and FI is statistically significant, exhibiting an inverted U-shape. This means that FI increases up to 55 years, and after that transition point, it starts to decline. Moreover, the region plays a significant role, considering that the level of FI of the respondents from Western Balkan countries is lower than that of those from the Gulf region.