EXPLORING THE NONLINEAR EFFECT OF FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT ON THE GLOBAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: EVIDENCE FROM BAYESIAN INFERENCE

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18623/rvd.v22.n6.4003

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the nonlinear effect of financial development on the unemployment rate of 117 countries in the world during the period from 2004 to 2022. The study uses the Bayesian inference method to test the nonlinear effect of financial development on the unemployment rate. The estimation results show that financial development has a positive effect on the unemployment rate. In addition, the financial development threshold is 0.73. When FD is below this threshold, it reduces the unemployment rate with a probability of 99.96%. In contrast, when financial development passes the threshold, it causes a negative effect on unemployment. These findings open policy directions in the context before and after the threshold, and this strengthens and opens the path to reduce the unemployment rate.

References

[1] Afonso, A., & Blanco-Arana, M. C. (2024). Unemployment and financial development: Evidence for OECD countries. Comparative Economic Studies, 66(4), 661–683.

[2] Çiftçioğlu, S., & Bein, M. A. (2017). The relationship between financial development and unemployment in selected countries of the European Union. European Review, 25(2), 307–319. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1062798716000600

[3] Chen, T. C., Kim, D. H., & Lin, S. C. (2021). Nonlinearity in the effects of financial development and financial structure on unemployment. Economic Systems, 45(1), 100766. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecosys.2020.100766

[4] Diamond, D. W. (1984). Financial intermediation and delegated monitoring. The Review of Economic Studies, 51(3), 393–414.

[5] Dinh, L. Q., Tran, T. D., Nguyen Hoang Hai, A., & Nguyen Van, H. (2025). Unveiling the impact of digital financial inclusion and financial development on global unemployment: A Bayesian quantile regression approach. Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology, 9(4). https://doi.org/10.55214/25768484.v9i4.6664

[6] Flegal, J. M., & Jones, G. L. (2011). Implementing MCMC: Estimating with confidence. In Handbook of Markov Chain Monte Carlo (pp. 175–197).

[7] George, A. (1970). The market for “lemons”: Quality uncertainty and the market mechanism. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 84(3), 488–500.

[8] Kruschke, J. K. (2015). Doing Bayesian data analysis (2nd ed.). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/C2012-0-00207-9

[9] Le Quoc, D. (2024). The relationship between digital financial inclusion, gender inequality, and economic growth. Journal of Business and Socio-economic Development. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBSED-12-2023-0101

[10] Levy, R., & Mislevy, R. J. (2017). Bayesian psychometric modeling. Chapman and Hall/CRC.

[11] Lind, J. T., & Mehlum, H. (2010). With or without U? The appropriate test for a U-shaped relationship. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 72(1), 109–118. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0084.2009.00569.x

[12] Marshall, A. (1920). Equilibrium of normal demand and supply. In Principles of Economics (pp. 281–291). Palgrave Macmillan UK.

[13] McElreath, R. (2020). Statistical rethinking (2nd ed.). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429029608

[14] Nyasha, S., Odhiambo, N. M., & Musakwa, M. T. (2022). Bank development and unemployment in Kenya: An empirical investigation. Managing Global Transitions, 20(2). https://doi.org/10.26493/1854-6935.20.85–107

[15] Quoc, H. N., Le Quoc, D., & Van, H. N. (2025). Assessing digital financial inclusion and financial crises: The role of financial development in shielding against shocks. Heliyon, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e41231

[16] Raifu, I. A., & Afolabi, J. A. (2023). The effect of financial development on unemployment in emerging market countries. Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, 15(3), 354–384. https://doi.org/10.1177/0974910122111671

[17] Raifu, I. A., Kumeka, T. T., & Aminu, A. (2024). Financial development and unemployment in MENA: Evidence from heterogeneous panel causality and quantile via moment regression. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 15(1), 3512–3550. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-023-01260-6

[18] Thach, N. N. (2020). How to explain when the ES is lower than one? A Bayesian nonlinear mixed-effects approach. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 13(2), 21. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm13020021

[19] Tsaurai, K. (2022). Financial development, renewable energy and unemployment in North Africa. Journal of Accounting and Finance in Emerging Economies, 8(3), 413–424. https://doi.org/10.26710/jafee.v8i3.2395

[20] Van, H. N., & Le Quoc, D. (2024). Assessing the impact of digital financial inclusion on sustainable development goals: Analyzing differences by financial development levels across countries. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-024-02515-6

[21] Van, H. N., Quoc, H. N., & Le Quoc, D. (2025). Towards sustainable development: drivers from financial and institutional development. Journal of Public Affairs, 25(3), e70073. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.70073

[22] World Unemployment Rate. (2025). World unemployment rate 1991–2025. Retrieved January 16, 2025, from https://www.macrotrends.net/globalmetrics/countries/wld/world/unemployment-rate

Downloads

Published

2025-12-16

How to Cite

Hien, L. T. T., & Hai, N. V. (2025). EXPLORING THE NONLINEAR EFFECT OF FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT ON THE GLOBAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: EVIDENCE FROM BAYESIAN INFERENCE. Veredas Do Direito, 22(6), e224003. https://doi.org/10.18623/rvd.v22.n6.4003