Fintech, Female Employment, and Gender Inequality

39 Pages Posted: 15 Jun 2022

See all articles by Boileau Loko

Boileau Loko

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Yuanchen Yang

International Monetary Fund

Date Written: June 1, 2022

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Fintech, Gender Inequality, Employment

JEL Classification: G20, J20, O30

Suggested Citation

Loko, Boileau and Yang, Yuanchen, Fintech, Female Employment, and Gender Inequality (June 1, 2022). IMF Working Paper No. 2022/108, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4137201

Boileau Loko (Contact Author)

International Monetary Fund (IMF) ( email )

700 19th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20431
United States

Yuanchen Yang

International Monetary Fund ( email )

United States

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