This article analyzes the role of access to digital and physical forms of finance on income inequality. The article develops a new measure of financial access that captures the relationship between digital finance and inequality, using a dynamic panel data analysis on 116 countries between 2001 and 2019. The results indicate that access to both financial institutions and digital access may reduce inequality, suggesting that they are complementary. We also find evidence suggesting that, in emerging economies, access to digital financial is more relevant than physical access.

中文翻译：

---

谁需要现金？数字金融与收入不平等

本文分析了获得数字和实体形式的金融对收入不平等的作用。本文利用 2001 年至 2019 年间对 116 个国家的动态面板数据进行分析，开发了一种新的金融准入衡量标准，捕捉数字金融与不平等之间的关系。结果表明，金融机构准入和数字准入可能会减少不平等，这表明他们是互补的。我们还发现证据表明，在新兴经济体中，获得数字金融比物理访问更重要。