Fintech, Female Employment, and Gender Inequality
IMF Working Papers, June 3, 2022
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- Fintech, Female Employment, and Gender Inequality
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: Boileau Loko, Yuanchen Yang
- Published: June 3, 2022
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798400210655.001
Overview
- Title: Fintech, Female Employment, and Gender Inequality
- Authors: Boileau Loko, Yuanchen Yang
- Publication date: June 3, 2022
- Summary statement: 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, the paper finds that fintech adoption significantly improves female employment and reduces gender inequality, with stronger effects for firms without traditional financial access. Digital divide and poor institutions weaken these benefits. Endogeneity is addressed via a fixed effects identification strategy. The paper concludes with policy recommendations and avenues for future research.
Key findings and effects
- Dataset coverage: fintech dataset for 114 economies worldwide.
- Main outcomes:
- Fintech adoption significantly improves female employment.
- Fintech adoption reduces gender inequality.
- Effects are more pronounced in firms without traditional financial access.
- Fintech increases both the number and the ratio of female employees in the workforce.
- Fintech mitigates financial constraints of female-headed firms.
- Moderating factors:
- Digital divide weakens fintech benefits for female employment and gender equality.
- Poor institutions weaken fintech benefits for female employment and gender equality.
- Identification and robustness:
- Endogeneity is accounted for by a fixed effects identification strategy.
Methodology and scope
- Empirical approach: fixed effects identification strategy to address endogeneity.
- Geographic scope: global sample spanning 114 economies.
- Sectoral/firmer-level focus: effects assessed on firms, including female-headed firms and those with/without traditional financial access.
- Outcomes measured: number and ratio of female employees, financial constraints faced by female-headed firms, and broader gender inequality indicators.
Policy recommendations and future research
- The paper provides policy recommendations aimed at leveraging fintech to improve female employment and reduce gender inequality (specific recommendations are provided in the paper).
- The paper outlines avenues for future research (specific avenues are provided in the paper).
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- Working Paper