Singer, DorotheDemirguc-Kunt, AsliKlapper, Leora2013-09-042013-09-042013-04https://hdl.handle.net/10986/15553This paper documents and analyzes gender differences in the use of financial services using individual-level data from 98 developing countries. The data, drawn from the Global Financial Inclusion (Global Findex) database, highlight the existence of significant gender gaps in ownership of accounts and usage of savings and credit products. Even after controlling for a host of individual characteristics including income, education, employment status, rural residency and age, gender remains significantly related to usage of financial services. This study also finds that legal discrimination against women and gender norms may explain some of the cross-country variation in access to finance for women. The analysis finds that in countries where women face legal restrictions in their ability to work, head a household, choose where to live, and receive inheritance, women are less likely to own an account, relative to men, as well as to save and borrow. The results also confirm that manifestations of gender norms, such as the level of violence against women and the incidence of early marriage for women, contribute to explaining the variation in the use of financial services between men and women, after controlling for other individual and country characteristics.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO CAPITALACCESS TO CREDITACCESS TO EXTERNAL FINANCEACCESS TO FINANCEACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICEACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICESACCESS TO FORMAL CREDITACCESS TO RESOURCESACCOUNT OWNERSHIPACCOUNT USAGEADMINISTRATIVE BARRIERSADULT POPULATIONASSET OWNERSHIPATTITUDES TOWARDS WOMENBANK ACCOUNTBANK ACCOUNTSBANK DATABANK LOANSBANKSBARRIERS TO INVESTMENTBORROWINGBUSINESS EXPERIENCEBUSINESS MANAGEMENTBUSINESS OWNERBUSINESS OWNERSBUSINESS OWNERSHIPCIVIL LAWCOLLATERALCOLLEGE DEGREECONSUMERCONSUMER FINANCECONTRIBUTIONCOURTCOURTSCREDIT CARDSCREDIT CONSTRAINTSCREDIT HISTORIESCREDIT MARKETCREDIT MARKETSCREDIT PRODUCTSCREDIT RATIONINGCREDIT SCORESCREDIT UNIONCULTURAL NORMSCUSTOMCUSTOMARY LAWCUSTOMARY PRACTICESDEBTDEBTSDEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICSDENIAL RATESDEPOSITDEPOSIT ACCOUNTDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT BANKDEVELOPMENT POLICYDEVELOPMENTAL ENTREPRENEURSHIPDISCRIMINATIONDISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMENDIVORCEEARLY MARRIAGEECONOMIC ACTIVITYECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC EMPOWERMENTECONOMIC GROWTHELECTRONIC PAYMENTSEMERGENCIESEMPLOYEEEMPLOYEREMPLOYMENT STATUSENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENTENTREPRENEURENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITIESENTREPRENEURSENVIRONMENT FOR WOMENEQUAL ACCESSEQUAL RIGHTSEQUITABLE TREATMENTEXPENDITUREEXTERNAL FINANCINGFAMILIESFAMILY LAWFAMILY MEMBERFAMILY MEMBERSFEMALEFEMALE BORROWERSFEMALE ENTREPRENEURSFEWER WOMENFINANCIAL ACCESSFINANCIAL BEHAVIORFINANCIAL CONSTRAINTSFINANCIAL DEVELOPMENTFINANCIAL EXPERIENCESFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL LITERACYFINANCIAL MARKETSFINANCIAL PRODUCTSFINANCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERSFINANCIAL SERVICESFINANCIAL SYSTEMFINANCIAL SYSTEMSFINANCIAL TOOLFIXED COSTSFORMAL CREDITFORMAL FINANCEFORMAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONFORMAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFORMAL FINANCIAL SECTORFORMAL FINANCIAL SERVICESFORMAL LENDINGFORMAL LOANFORMAL LOANSFORMAL SAVINGSGENDERGENDER BIASGENDER DIFFERENCEGENDER DIFFERENCESGENDER DISCRIMINATIONGENDER DISPARITYGENDER EQUALITYGENDER EQUALITY ACTGENDER GAPGENDER GAP IN ACCESSGENDER GAPSGENDER NORMSGENDER PARITYGENDER PERSPECTIVEGENDERSGROUP LENDINGGUARANTORSHEAD OF HOUSEHOLDHOMEHOUSEHOLD DYNAMICSHOUSEHOLD FINANCEHOUSEHOLD LEVELHOUSEHOLD SIZEHOUSEHOLDSHUSBANDHUSBANDSINCOMEINCOME GROUPSINCOME INEQUALITYINCOME LEVELSINCOMESINEQUALITYINFORMAL CREDITINFORMAL LENDERINFORMAL SAVINGSINHERITANCEINHERITANCE RIGHTSINTENSIVE INDUSTRIESINTEREST RATEINTEREST RATESINTERNATIONAL BANKINVESTINGLABOUR ORGANIZATIONLACK OF ACCESSLAWSLEGAL SITUATIONLEGISLATIONLENDERSLEVEL OF EDUCATIONLITERACY RATESLOANLOAN AMOUNTSLOAN APPLICANTSLOAN APPLICATIONSLOAN MARKETLOAN OFFICERSMARITAL PROPERTYMARITAL STATUSMARRIAGESMARRIED MANMARRIED WOMANMARRIED WOMENMFIMICRO-ENTERPRISEMICROFINANCEMICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONOBSTACLES TO GROWTHPERSONAL CREDITPERSONAL SAVINGSPOLICY DISCUSSIONSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOPULATION STATISTICSPOWER OF WOMENPROBABILITYPROGRESSPROPERTY RIGHTSREAL ESTATEREGRESSION ANALYSISRESIDENCERESPECTSAVINGSSAVINGS BEHAVIORSAVINGS GROUPSAVINGS INSTRUMENTSSAVINGS PRODUCTSAVINGS RATESSECOND LOANSECONDARY EDUCATIONSEXSEX DIFFERENCESSMALL BUSINESSSMALL BUSINESS OWNERSSMALL BUSINESSESSMALL ENTERPRISESOCIAL MOBILITYSOCIOECONOMIC STATUSSOURCES OF CREDITSTDUNEMPLOYEDUNIFEMUNITED NATIONSUNITED NATIONS FUND FOR WOMENUNMARRIED MENUNMARRIED WOMENVILLAGEVIOLENCEVIOLENCE AGAINST WOMENWAGESWEDDINGWIFEWILLWIVESWOMANWOMEN BORROWERSWOMEN ENTREPRENEURSWORKING WOMENWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-6416