Financial sector development, fintech and sustainable development goals (sdgs) number 3 and 4 in low and lower middle income countries

Abstract

This study examines the impacts of financial sector development on sustainable development goals number 3 and 4 that are good health and well - beings, and quality education in 79 low and lower-middle-income countries during the period from 2013 to 2022. Good health and well - beings calculated as births attended by skilled health staff, and quality education calculated as children out of school are dependent variables; financial sector development calculated as financial development index is an independent variable; fintech, remittances, GDP growth, trade openness, foreign direct investment, rule of law are control variables. In this study, authors used Principal Components Analysis (PCA) to measure fintech. By using GMM estimator, our research found that while financial sector development would exert a positive impact on good health and well - beings, and a negative effect on the number of children out of school. Strikingly, it is discovered that in general, between two financial development indicators, financial institutions have a stronger impact on dependent variables than financial markets. Moreover, the moderating role of fintech in the influence of financial sector development on school leave is insignificant, and fintech is discovered to positively moderate the impact of financial sector development on good health and well - beings. These findings are expected to contribute to the development of financial development and fintech so that healthcare sector and national education is promoted.