The effect of financial inclusion on income inequality in Iran's provinces with an emphasis on the role of information and communication technology

Efforts have been made to reduce inequality in Iran; But the problem persists and affects the economic growth. The purpose of the article is to evaluate the effect of financial inclusion on income inequality in the provinces of Iran, with an emphasis on information and communication technology. Therefore, the data of 31 provinces of Iran in the period of 1390-1400 were used. First, the financial inclusion index was calculated with the principal component analysis approach in two stages for the provinces. The findings showed that this index is not more than 0.5 in any province. Only in Tehran, it is between 0.5 and 0.3, and 30 other provinces are at a low level. Then, the effect of financial inclusion on the Gini coefficient in Iran's provinces was estimated using fixed effects and FMOLS methods, the variables of information and communication technology indicators and their cross effects were estimated. The results showed that financial inclusion has a negative and significant effect on the Gini coefficient in the provinces of Iran. Also, the cross effects of learning and information and communication technology have a negative effect on the Gini coefficient.