Digital Earth – A sustainable Earth

Financial and social inclusion are emerging as critical facilitators of economic growth and development that significantly drive away poverty. The purpose of this paper is to model and quantify the link between financial and social inclusion. Data were collected, and the hypotheses of this study were analysed using PLS-SEM through SmartPLS software. The findings from the study showed that financial inclusion has a significant and positive effect on social inclusion. Given the limited existing research on this topic, this paper contributes by establishing connections between distinct dimensions of financial and social inclusion, offering guidance for future research. The insights gleaned from this study can assist financial service providers, policymakers, and regulators in crafting more effective financial products and social inclusion policies aimed at serving marginalised communities.

Digital divide and social inclusion in rural area are important social and economic issues. Mobile platform is regarded as a new information and communication technology (ICT) to motivate villagers inner strength, achieve digital divide elimination and social inclusion. Based on the case of WeCountry in Chinese rural area, this study illustrates how mobile platform bridge digital divide and empower villagers in rural governance. Results show that: (1) mobile platform has functions of village management, affective interaction and e-commerce; (2) according to different types, mobile platform can empower villagers in structural, psychological and resource dimensions; (3) platform provider and government help the empowerment process as the technology supplier and platform regulator, and politic pusher, respectively; (4) through empowerment, there are three dimensions of social inclusion can be achieved: political inclusion, social participation inclusion and economic inclusion, which result in digital divide elimination. This paper concludes with the theoretical and practical implications.

Access to finance is essential not only for maintaining and improving the social and economic status of a person but also for meeting all needs. Without holding a valid account in any authorized financial institution, people are unable to save for future purchases, or child education, or invest after retirement and tend to avoid high interest payments and fees. The participation of the vulnerable and disadvantaged in formal financial system can boost financial and social inclusion. This chapter reports empirical findings of investigation by analyzing selected variables and financial inclusion in the Indian context. Moreover, the chapter estimates relationship between financial inclusion and different variables selected in the study at macro concept. Determinants of financial inclusion and disparity across regions and states in India are dealt broadly in this chapter. Key findings and their interpretations are also discussed at last in this chapter.KeywordsFinancial inclusionDeterminantsRegional disparityPrincipal component analysisBivariate regression analysisMultiple regression analysis

There are special relations between financial inclusion and social inclusion with the latter being one of the best addressed when people have access to financial services. This paper explores effects of financial access on poverty, while incorporating moderation effects by years of schooling. Therefore, this study utilizes unbalanced panel data of 17 lower-middle-income countries itself and both the above mentioned static and dynamic panel model to conduct a strict panel data analyse. The analysis of data, employing the Composite Financial Inclusion Index (CFII) as an instrument to assess financial inclusion, shows that the level of financial inclusion and poverty in these countries are negatively related and sharply influenced. Also, the study discovers that there is a positive correlation between the financial inclusion, and Poverty reduction after controlling the effects of education attainment. They provide useful recommendations for policymakers, institutions dealing with money, and governments. First, financial services must be brought nearer to the poor populations which can reduce poverty level in the society. Second, a subsequent improvement of the education level is required to achieve the best results for financial inclusion on poverty reduction.

The objective of this chapter is to analyze the evolution and transformational journey of microfinance sector in India. Besides, it analyzes the status of financial as well as social inclusion in India, comprising its impact on the socio-economic development of the poor people. With the help of secondary data, the study found that banks account for 40% of the total industry portfolio, which includes both direct and indirect lending through BC (business correspondence) partnerships followed by the NBFC-MFIs (non-banking financial corporation-microfinance institutions) as the second largest provider of microcredit with a loan amount outstanding of Rs. 71,342 crores, accounting for 32% of total microcredit universe. The study has also found that a meaningful financial and social inclusion could be achieved only through a collaborative effort from all the stakeholders involved in the entire process and using good governance practices. With sustainable growth and modest return, the sector, which initially survived just as a “not-for-profit” endeavour, has attracted several large multinational private equity investors over the past decade.

Social Inclusion and Self Help Groups: Myth or Reality?

This study examines the role of digital banking and fintech in promoting financial inclusion and sustainable economic growth within a globalized context. As technological innovations transform financial services, key questions focus on how fintech bridges gaps in access, enhances efficiency, and drives economic participation among underserved populations. The research analyzes data from various countries to assess the effectiveness of fintech initiatives in expanding financial access, highlighting successful strategies and common challenges such as regulatory barriers, security risks, and digital literacy gaps. The discussion explores strategies for effective implementation, including collaboration among regulators, financial institutions, and technology providers, as well as the importance of establishing a secure digital infrastructure. Results indicate that fintech solutions significantly improve access to banking, especially in rural and low-income areas, contributing to economic resilience and social inclusion. The article emphasizes that a supportive policy environment and innovative technological deployment are essential for maximizing fintech's impact on economic sustainability. Findings suggest that targeted efforts to address barriers can foster greater financial inclusion, thus supporting broader goals of economic growth and development. Overall, the study underscores the potential of fintech to serve as a catalyst for inclusive, sustainable financial ecosystems in a rapidly globalizing world.

Introduction T his chapter discusses the employment situation of people with disabilities at the global level, focusing on the role that employment can play in improving their livelihoods and on the barriers to their entry into the labour market. It highlights why it is important for people with disabilities to actively participate in the labour market, employing a largely descriptive approach and drawing on the previous literature. The issues raised in this chapter will be further discussed in the subsequent chapters, which will feature original empirical studies. In this sense, the main purpose of this chapter is to present a global picture of the employment situation of people with disabilities and to set forth a structural and thematic roadmap for the book. The rest of the chapter is organized as follows: Section 2 outlines the perceived advantages of employment; Section 3 focuses on labour force participation and occupational choice; Section 4 discusses some of the barriers to entry for people with disabilities looking to enter the labour market and the final section offers some conclusions. The value of jobs to people with disabilities Employment is equally important to all people – without it, social inclusion and economic independence are unlikely to be achieved. Among the crucial social functions that employment can facilitate are financial independence and social inclusion. It has also been found to improve social status, provide social support and enable workers to make a contribution, thereby leading to an increase in self-worth (O'Day and Killeen 2002). Employment has the potential to improve a person's financial situation, open up opportunities for social contact, build (new) friendships and increase people's self-esteem. By contrast, unemployment can cause not only poverty and social exclusion but also result in a lower sense of self-worth. Linn, Sandifer and Stein (1985) studied the effect of unemployment on physical health and found that symptoms of somatization disorder, depression and anxiety were significantly greater in unemployed than employed individuals. As employment brings different benefits including direct income, the lack of a job may have an adverse impact on psychological function.

Inclusive financing strategy is the delivery of financial services at affordable costs to sections of disadvantaged and low-income segments members of the society. Previously, the main stream Commercial Banks had left out low income earners who constitute a big percentage of the Kenyan population. Development through Financial Inclusion in Kenya aims at improving the standard of living of the people. Improvement in living standards has not been confined to economic gains, or increments in per capita income. It has certainly involved improvements of people to social, cultural and political spheres of life. Rural development involves the transformation of the economic, social, cultural and political conditions of the rural people for the better in order to enable them actively participate, consciously bring about their development, take their own share of benefits and sustain such benefits for long. Surprisingly, however, two notable issues remain constant across the foregoing half-a century in attempts to address poverty and equal opportunity. About one billion people globally earn per capita income of less than one dollar per day. Increasingly poverty worsens the problems of the poor in the world today. Particularly in Sub Saharan Africa, a sharp contrast of increasing disparity between the rich and the poor, men and women or urban and rural people. Financial inclusion Strategy is the delivery of financial services at affordable costs to sections of disadvantaged and low-income segments members of the society. As a result, companies in India have developed m-payment systems on the lines of M-PESA, a mobilebased financial service, in Kenya, to increase financial inclusion by providing deposit and withdrawal services to customers in remote areas. These have increased mobilization of money in form of capital for investment to rural areas which is inaccessible by big commercial banks.

Rainbow Blindness: Same-Sex Partnerships in Post-Coalitional Australia

As proposed by the current theoretical framework, the fact that the economic growth of a country depends not only on the formation of physical and human capital and the sustainable exploitation of its natural resources, but also on the financial inclusion that allows economic agents to find solutions to liquidity restrictions and channel savings towards productive investment is exhibited in this paper. By matching multiple databases, static and dynamic panel estimates are developed, verifying the robustness of results and the endogenous nature of economic growth. The current research demonstrates that social inclusion is not only the desired result of economic growth, but a required input for its future sustainability.

The idea of inclusive development has acquired a new dimension in recent times, with rising emphasis of the state policy on resolving socio-economic exclusion through the mechanism of the market, as evidenced by the rise of the ‘semi-formal sector’ and NGO/private sector-led microfinance initiatives in countries like Brazil, Bangladesh and India. In India, this has produced a consolidated discourse of the policy of Financial Inclusion. The main aim of this paper is to study the wider social and political contradictions implicit in the idea of Financial Inclusion in the specificity of the Indian context. Given the manner in which the initiatives to achieve socio-economic inclusion through the formal financial system are being undertaken, the policy of inclusive finance has become an instrument for the accommodation of socially-inclusive development within the neo-liberal paradigm of individual enterprise, thereby subverting the very rationale of development. While inclusive development through the formal financial system was a core area of the state policy since the 1950s and was subsumed under the wider imperative of social inclusion, the current policy reveals itself to be more inclined towards accommodative inclusion under a neoliberal financial system, with the consensus that the merits of the ‘strategy’ of Financial Inclusion lie in that it will hike the profitability of banks if they are able to tap the potential ‘market’ of the rural poor. This has led to a proliferation of the norm of developmental self-reliance based on entrepreneurship rather than the realization of well-being as an important developmental outcome.

The awareness of environmental sustainability and climate change issues is necessary to change the mindset of the world population from an intensive and linear use of resources to a more responsible and circular one. In the same way, institutional bodies, governments, banks and financial institutions must be lean towards economic and social initiatives policies and funding in line with the objectives of reducing emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere. In this paper are going to be discussed some of the new-born principal methodologies created to help the financing of a zero-impact circular economy and some refined financial instruments modified to incorporate the themes of environmental sustainability and social inclusion. The topic of financial sustainability is under development and constantly evolving. For this reason, some tools will also be reported under the perspective that in the coming years, these will allow to extend the available offering of financial instruments to investors sensitive to environmental issues. Finally, the impacts which these tools may have on the economy and the environment will be observed, with particular regard to the European Community. The improvement of the financial instruments represents an essential and decisive step in order to finance a more sustainable, responsible and inclusive economy. In the long term, this will allow to eliminate the atmospheric polluting emissions and, ultimately, a reversion of climate change.

In this research work, the author focuses on the analysis of the regional perspective of the knowledge-based economy and Europe 2020. The Europe 2020 programme is the European Union’s growth strategy for the coming decade and especially for new budget perspective 2014–2020. In a changing world, representatives of the EU want it to become a smart, sustainable, and inclusive economy. These three mutually reinforcing priorities should help the EU and its Member States deliver high levels of employment, productivity, and social cohesion. Concretely, the Union has set five ambitious objectives — on employment, innovation, education, social inclusion, and climate/energy — to be reached by 2020. Each Member State has adopted its own national targets in each of these areas. Concrete actions at EU and national levels underpin this strategy. The main objective of the research task is to give a comprehensive analysis of the knowledge-based economy from the regional perspective and the program Europe 2020. The particular main concern is the increase of the importance of the knowledge-based economy in the region, the Triple Helix model constructed advantages, programme Europe 2020 and financial instrument of this programme — Horizon 2020.

The current state of Russian rural territories causes concern due to the numerous socio-economic problems in the countryside. Their solution is one of the most important governmental objectives that require both adequate strategic planning and timely monitoring of the current situation in the countryside. The study was aimed to identify key problems of the socio-economic development of rural territories in Russia based on the inclusive approach. Within the research, the author analyzed the dynamics of 17 indicators of inclusive development of Russian rural territories for the period from 2011 to 2020 united in four blocks: “Growth and Development”, “Economic Inclusion”, “Continuity of Generations and Development Sustainability”, and “Social Inclusion”. The study identified that the priority development of agriculture ensured the growth of gross added value of the industry but did not contribute to the improvement of the quality and living conditions of the rural population. The results of the study showed that along with the growth of labor productivity in agriculture, a decrease in the employment rate in the countryside was observed. At the same time, wages in agriculture were about a third lower than in the economy as a whole. Poverty in the countryside remains one of the most acute problems as it concerns the fifth of the rural residents. Rural settlements fall behind the urban ones in a number of parameters: life expectancy, the level of the population’s employment, the households’ available resources, social and engineering infrastructure. The solution of indicated problems is possible only when updating the existing model of the development of rural areas based on the principles of inclusive development, which to the greatest extent meet the modern-day challenges and threats.