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This study critically examines the effect of financial inclusion on life expectancy and infant mortality rates, and whether the effect is conditioned by possible threshold effects determined by the degree of income inequality and poverty levels. We draw our conclusions based on 61 developing and transitional economies in the period 2011-2017. Using an aggregate hybrid financial inclusion index, we show that financial inclusion exerts a direct positive effect on health outcomes. Furthermore, the effectiveness of financial inclusion as a policy tool to achieve better health outcomes is higher in societies where poverty and income inequality are more prevalent. These are significant findings from a policy perspective as greater financial inclusion offers the scope to invest in health capital and enhances the capacity for risk management among the most vulnerable populations in the face of health shocks.

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Most of the aid literature focuses on the potential growth effects of aggregate aid, with mixed results. Considering that donors have repeatedly asserted the multidimensionality of their purposes, a much-disaggregated analysis of aid effectiveness is necessary. The effect of women education aid is examined empirically for 72 developing countries during the period 1990–2016. The effectiveness of aid targeted to women education is assessed here within the framework of cross-country regression. This analysis exploits an instrumental variable since donors provide large amount of women education aid to countries which have similar voting positions in the United Nations General Assembly. The results show that women education aid has a significantly positive effect on women’s education. This result is robust with different sensitivity checks. The finding has strong policy implications for donor countries and international aid organisations, such as it helps identify the most effective types of foreign aid flow to various economic sectors of the recipient countries.

This study evaluates the impact of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) on children's health outcomes in developing countries. Using a difference-in-differences identification strategy, we find that GAVI has reduced neonatal, infant and under-five mortality rates. The impact of GAVI on children's health outcomes is larger in countries with lower per capita income. Our findings underscore the relevance of health interventions in improving children's health outcomes in developing economies.