Abstract

This research seeks to investigate the influence of financial inclusion on corruption control within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) member states. Resorting to annual data from 2007 to 2022, the research employs various methodologies, including fixed effects, random effects estimation, generalized least squares, and panel corrected standard errors to evaluate the relationship between financial inclusion and corruption control in this region. The main findings suggest that financial inclusion positively affects corruption control across all four analytical techniques. However, the threshold analysis reveals that beyond a certain point, financial inclusion negatively impacts corruption control in the WAEMU. Overall, the findings indicate that financial inclusion contributes to reducing corruption in these countries but also highlight the existence of a threshold beyond which its effects may become detrimental. This underscores the necessity for initiatives seeking to enhance access to and utilization of digital financial services that can mitigate corrupt practices.