Habib Ashfaq, Khan Muhammad Asif, Haddad Hossam, Al-Ramahi Nidal Mahmoud
Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management, Humanities & Social Sciences, University of Poonch Rawalakot, Pakistan.
Department of Commerce, Faculty of Management Sciences, University of Kotli, Kotli AJK, 11100, Pakistan.
Heliyon. 2024 Jan 9;10(2):e24128. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24128. eCollection 2024 Jan 30.
Facilitating economic opportunities is a critical function of the financial sector, and this contributes significantly towards the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals 10 (SDG-10), which aims to reduce income inequality. This research examines the role of sustainable banking practices in reducing income inequality and achieving SDG-10 under weak rule of law settings. We employed a panel cluster regression model to examine the data collected from 890 banks across 49 nations over a nine-year period (2014-2022). Specifically, we opted to cluster the observations based on industry and year to produce unbiased standard error. The findings reveal that sustainable banking practices are more effective in reducing income inequality, especially in settings with weak rule of law. They also contribute to combating money laundering, which is a significant barrier to achieving SDG-10. The study highlights the importance of transparent and responsible financial transactions in promoting investment opportunities that contribute to sustainable development. Moreover, we find that sustainable banking can accelerate the impact of Fintech in reducing income inequality in weak rule of law settings. The use of Fintech in the financial industry can improve transparency, accountability, and fairness, which are essential for progress towards achieving SDG-10. These findings have significant implications for the expansion of sustainable banking practices in regions with weak institutional frameworks.
促进经济机会是金融部门的一项关键职能，这对实现可持续发展目标10（SDG - 10）做出了重大贡献，该目标旨在减少收入不平等。本研究考察了在法治薄弱的环境下，可持续银行实践在减少收入不平等和实现SDG - 10方面的作用。我们采用面板聚类回归模型来分析在九年期间（2014 - 2022年）从49个国家的890家银行收集的数据。具体而言，我们选择根据行业和年份对观测值进行聚类，以产生无偏标准误差。研究结果表明，可持续银行实践在减少收入不平等方面更有效，尤其是在法治薄弱的环境中。它们还有助于打击洗钱活动，而洗钱是实现SDG - 10的一个重大障碍。该研究强调了透明和负责任的金融交易在促进有助于可持续发展的投资机会方面的重要性。此外，我们发现可持续银行可以加速金融科技在法治薄弱环境中减少收入不平等的影响。金融行业中金融科技的使用可以提高透明度、问责制和公平性，这些对于实现SDG - 10的进展至关重要。这些发现对在制度框架薄弱的地区扩大可持续银行实践具有重大意义。
