Fintech, Female Employment, and Gender Inequality

Fintech, Female Employment, and Gender Inequality
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Volume/Issue: Volume 2022 Issue 108
Publication date: June 2022
ISBN: 9798400210655
$20.00
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Topics covered in this book

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Labor , Economics- Macroeconomics , Economics / General , Gender Studies , Fintech , Gender Inequality , Employment , effects identification strategy , fintech adoption , service sector , gender gap in Fintech adoption , loan access , fintech firm , Women , Small and medium enterprises , Global , Middle East , Asia and Pacific , Caribbean , Sub-Saharan Africa

Summary

Fintech, which delivers financial services digitally, promises to promote financial inclusion and close the gender gap. Using a novel fintech dataset for 114 economies worldwide, this paper shows that fintech adoption significantly improves female employment and reduces gender inequality, the effect being more pronounced in firms without traditional financial access. Fintech not only increases the number and ratio of female employees in the workforce, but also mitigates financial constraints of female-headed firms. Digital divide and poor institutions weaken such benefits. Endogeneity is accounted for by a fixed effects identification strategy. We conclude by providing policy recommendations and outlining avenues for future research.