Financial Inclusion and Legal Discrimination Against Women : Evidence from Developing Countries

Demirguc-Kunt, Asli ; Klapper, Leora ; Singer, Dorothe

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ACCESS TO CAPITAL;    ACCESS TO CREDIT;    ACCESS TO EXTERNAL FINANCE;    ACCESS TO FINANCE;    ACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICE;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-6416
RP-ID  :  WPS6416

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper documents and analyzes genderdifferences in the use of financial services usingindividual-level data from 98 developing countries. Thedata, drawn from the Global Financial Inclusion (GlobalFindex) database, highlight the existence of significantgender gaps in ownership of accounts and usage of savingsand credit products. Even after controlling for a host ofindividual characteristics including income, education,employment status, rural residency and age, gender remainssignificantly related to usage of financial services. Thisstudy also finds that legal discrimination against women andgender norms may explain some of the cross-country variationin access to finance for women. The analysis finds that incountries where women face legal restrictions in theirability to work, head a household, choose where to live, andreceive inheritance, women are less likely to own anaccount, relative to men, as well as to save and borrow. Theresults also confirm that manifestations of gender norms,such as the level of violence against women and theincidence of early marriage for women, contribute toexplaining the variation in the use of financial servicesbetween men and women, after controlling for otherindividual and country characteristics.