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Does Financial Inclusion and Digitalization Reduce Corruption? Cross-Country Evidence and Sectoral Insights

Latifa Ouis et al.

International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues2026https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.22620article
ABDC C
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

This study investigates the impact of key economic and financial variables on the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) across countries. The objective is to identify the most significant predictors of perceived corruption. The analysis employs a variety of quantitative methods, including Linear Regression, Recurrent Neural Network (RNN), Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Attention-RNN, and Random Forest models. The results demonstrate that GDP per capita is the most influential factor in explaining variations in corruption perceptions. Among financial sector indicators, variables reflecting active banking operations (such as outstanding loans and deposits) showed stronger predictive power than digitalization metrics (e.g., number of bank branches and ATMs). This suggests that the intensity of financial activity plays a more critical role than the mere availability of banking infrastructure. The study concludes that fostering economic growth and stimulating active engagement with the formal financial system are effective strategies for reducing corruption perceptions. Policy recommendations include addressing unemployment and promoting the formalization of remittance flows.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.22620

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@article{latifa2026,
  title        = {{Does Financial Inclusion and Digitalization Reduce Corruption? Cross-Country Evidence and Sectoral Insights}},
  author       = {Latifa Ouis et al.},
  journal      = {International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.22620},
}

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Does Financial Inclusion and Digitalization Reduce Corruption? Cross-Country Evidence and Sectoral Insights

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.