Technological Advancement and the Evolving Gender Identities: A Focus on the Level of Female Economic Participation in Sub-Saharan Africa

This study investigates how technological advancement improves gender identity by means of female economic participation in a panel 48 African countries for the period 1990-2014. Two indicators are used to measure female economic participation, namely, the: female labour force participation and employment rates. Technological advancement is measured with three main indicators, notably: internet penetration, mobile phone penetration and fixed broad band subscriptions. The empirical evidence is based on Ordinary Least Squares, Fixed Effects and System Generalized Method of Moments regressions. The findings show that improvement in technology increases female economic participation with the following consistent order of increasing magnitude: mobile phone penetration; internet penetration and fixed broad band subscriptions. The findings are robust to the control for: countries’ levels in economic development; the use of contemporary technology advancement indicators; internal conflicts and political stability; the level of social globalization and the use of alternative instruments. Policy implications are discussed

On the Relationship between Globalisation and the Economic Participation of Women in Sub-Saharan Africa

This study assesses the relationship between globalisation and the economic participation of women (EPW) in 47 Sub-Saharan African countries for the period 1990-2013. Two indicators are used to measure EPW, namely, the: female labour force participation and employment rates. The empirical evidence is based on Panel-corrected Standard Errors and Fixed Effects regressions. The findings show that the positive effect of the overall globalisation index on EPW is dampened by its political component and driven by its economic and social components, with a higher positive magnitude from the former or economic globalisation. For the most part, the findings are robust to the control for several structural and institutional characteristics: varying conditioning information sets, changes in the growth of urban population, government consumption, legal systems, resource wealth, health, technological advancement, political strife and conflicts, income levels and levels of industrialisation. An extended analysis by unbundling globalisation shows that the positive incidence of social globalisation is driven by information flow (compared to personal contact and cultural proximity) while the positive effect of economic globalisation is driven by actual flows (relative to restrictions). Policy implications are discussed

Technological Advancement and the Evolving Gender Identities: A Focus on the Level of Female Economic Participation in Sub-Saharan Africa

This study investigates how technological advancement improves gender identity by means of female economic participation in a panel 48 African countries for the period 1990-2014. Two indicators are used to measure female economic participation, namely, the: female labour force participation and employment rates. Technological advancement is measured with three main indicators, notably: internet penetration, mobile phone penetration and fixed broad band subscriptions. The empirical evidence is based on Ordinary Least Squares, Fixed Effects and System Generalized Method of Moments regressions. The findings show that improvement in technology increases female economic participation with the following consistent order of increasing magnitude: mobile phone penetration; internet penetration and fixed broad band subscriptions. The findings are robust to the control for: countries’ levels in economic development; the use of contemporary technology advancement indicators; internal conflicts and political stability; the level of social globalization and the use of alternative instruments. Policy implications are discussed

Female Economic Participation with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Advancement: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

This study complements existing literature by investigating how the advancement in information and communication technology affects the formal economic participation of women. The focus is on 48 African countries for the period 1990-2014. The empirical evidence is based on Ordinary Least Squares, Fixed Effects and the Generalized Method of Moments regressions. The results show that improving communication technology increases female economic participation with the following consistent order of increasing magnitude: mobile phone penetration; internet penetration, and fixed broadband subscriptions. The findings are robust to the control for heterogeneities across countries. Policy implications are discussed

Female Economic Participation with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Advancement: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

This study complements existing literature by investigating how the advancement in information and communication technology affects the formal economic participation of women. The focus is on 48 African countries for the period 1990-2014. The empirical evidence is based on Ordinary Least Squares, Fixed Effects and the Generalized Method of Moments regressions. The results show that improving communication technology increases female economic participation with the following consistent order of increasing magnitude: mobile phone penetration; internet penetration, and fixed broadband subscriptions. The findings are robust to the control for heterogeneities across countries. Policy implications are discussed

Exploring Multidimensional Financial Inclusion and Manufacturing Firms Performance in a Developing Country: The Case of Nigeria

This study used the matching technique to explore the impact of financial inclusion on the performance of manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Most studies that have considered financial inclusion have largely focused on household access to the services of financial institutions, but have inadvertently underexplored the impact on the performance of firms, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. On the one hand, financial inclusion is measured using a multidimensional measure, which includes (i) firms having between 20-40 percent of their working capital financed through borrowing from the bank; (ii) firms having an overdraft facility to finance their operation and (iii) firms having a line of credit or loan from a financial institution. On the other hand, firm performance is measured using the lag total annual sales value of the firm in local currency unit. From the matching estimation, we find that whereas firms perform better with the aid of access to bank services, the extent differs in relation to the type of access they have. We interpret these results as showing that financial deepening increases firms’ performance only dependent on the type of financial inclusion that is being observed

Globalisation and Female Economic Participation in Sub-Saharan Africa

This study assesses the relationship between globalisation and the economic participation of women (EPW) in 47 Sub-Saharan African countries for the period 1990-2013. EPW is measured with the female labour force participation and employment rates. The empirical evidence is based on Panel-corrected Standard Errors and Fixed Effects regressions. The findings show that the positive effect of the overall globalisation index on EPW is dampened by its political component and driven by its economic and social components, with a higher positive magnitude from the former or economic globalisation. For the most part, the findings are robust to the control for several structural and institutional characteristics. An extended analysis by unbundling globalisation shows that the positive incidence of social globalisation is driven by information flow (compared to personal contact and cultural proximity) while the positive effect of economic globalisation is driven by actual flows (relative to restrictions). Policy implications are discussed with some emphasis on how to elevate women’s social status and potentially reduce their victimisation to male dominance

Exploring Multidimensional Financial Inclusion and Manufacturing Firms Performance in a Developing Country: The Case of Nigeria

This study used the matching technique to explore the impact of financial inclusion on the performance of manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Most studies that have considered financial inclusion have largely focused on household access to the services of financial institutions, but have inadvertently underexplored the impact on the performance of firms, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. On the one hand, financial inclusion is measured using a multidimensional measure, which includes (i) firms having between 20-40 percent of their working capital financed through borrowing from the bank; (ii) firms having an overdraft facility to finance their operation and (iii) firms having a line of credit or loan from a financial institution. On the other hand, firm performance is measured using the lag total annual sales value of the firm in local currency unit. From the matching estimation, we find that whereas firms perform better with the aid of access to bank services, the extent differs in relation to the type of access they have. We interpret these results as showing that financial deepening increases firms’ performance only dependent on the type of financial inclusion that is being observed