Digital agency theory of financial inclusion: a theory of digital financial inclusion

Ozili, Peterson K (2024): Digital agency theory of financial inclusion: a theory of digital financial inclusion. Forthcoming in:

Abstract

The objective of this study is to present a theoretical framework that explains the digital agency at work in digital financial inclusion. The digital agency theory of financial inclusion examines the problems and solutions linked to delegating financial inclusion outcomes to a digital agent. The theory also examines the various kinds of incentives and monitoring arrangements that can be deployed by the financial inclusion principal to ensure that the digital agent achieve the specified financial inclusion outcome. The digital agency theory of financial inclusion states that the financial inclusion principal will employ the services of a digital agent who will use appropriate digital technologies to achieve the financial inclusion outcome specified by the financial inclusion principal under a contractual agreement that motivates the digital agent to act in the best interest of the financial inclusion principal. The theory has broad applicability for digital financial inclusion. This study contributes to the emerging theoretical literature on financial inclusion by presenting a digital agency perspective on how to accelerate digital financial inclusion using digital agents.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: financial inclusion, digital agent, digital financial inclusion, digital technologies, incentives, digital agency theory of financial inclusion, monitoring
• Subjects: G - Financial Economics > G2 - Financial Institutions and Services > G21 - Banks ; Depository Institutions ; Micro Finance Institutions ; Mortgages; G - Financial Economics > G2 - Financial Institutions and Services > G23 - Non-bank Financial Institutions ; Financial Instruments ; Institutional Investors; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences ; Diffusion Processes

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