Financial and Social Inclusion and Financial Sector Development: An Outline in the EU28

Abstract

The paper describes the status of the European Union member countries, from the point of view of both financial and social inclusion and the development of the financial sector. The aim is to identify clusters of countries, with internally homogeneous but externally heterogeneous characteristics. The analysis shows if social exclusion and financial exclusion coexist in the same countries, considering the development of the financial sector. From a methodological point of view, the research collects and analyzes data extrapolated from different sources in the period 2016-2017 and it is conducted through a Principal Component Analysis and a Cluster Analysis.