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on Community banking and credit unions |
| By: | Enrique Bátiz-Zuk; Anuar Bechara; Fabrizio López-Gallo; Corrado Macchiarelli |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of alternative digital lending—defined as digital credit provision by non‑bank financial intermediaries (NBFIs)—on bank and systemic risk taking and competition. The paper focuses on Sociedades Financieras Populares (SOFIPOs) which constitute a regulated and well‑documented NBFI segment allowing an empirical assessment of the relationship between digital non-bank lending expansion and bank outcomes. Using a quarterly sample of 53 Mexican banks and 8 of these non-banks for the period 2018Q1–2024Q4, we document that growth in alternative digital lending is associated with lower individual bank risk-taking and stronger competitive pressures, with the latter effect being stronger for small banks. Reflecting the moderate size of digital lenders in Mexico and the compositional reallocation between bank and non‑bank credit, overall systemic risk appears broadly unaltered by the entry of the new players. |
| Keywords: | Digital finance; alternative lending; non-bank financial intermediaries; bank risk‑taking; systemic risk; competition; financial inclusion; Mexico |
| Date: | 2026–09–18 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2026/198 |
| By: | Nasir Iqbal (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad); Baber Majid Bhatti (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad) |
| Abstract: | A fully digital platform to simplify business registration in Pakistan, empowering MSMEs with mobile-first access, FBR and SECP integration, and secure online services. |
| Keywords: | business registration Pakistan, digital registration MSMEs, Pakistan startup registration, e-registration portal Pakistan, PITB limitations, FBR SECP integration, SME formalization Pakistan, online business setup, mobile-first business platform, digital business licensing |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pid:pviewp:2025:47 |
| By: | Kauhanen, Antti (ETLA Economic Research); Riukula, Krista (ETLA Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies whether collective bargaining can reduce gender inequality through targeted wage increases. We examine the Finnish equality allowance, a small contractual wage component corresponding to a wage increase of up to 0.5 percent, introduced in the 2005 comprehensive agreement and implemented in collective agreements in 2006. Using worker-level earnings data linked to collective agreements, we estimate its effects with difference-in-differences methods robust to heterogeneous treatment effects. Equality allowances were more commonly applied in more female-dominated sectors and occupations. Our preferred analysis focuses on the private-sector agreements, where some agreements introduced an equality allowance and others did not. We find no statistically significant effects on hourly earnings, working hours, or employer mobility. However, subgroup analyses provide some evidence of reduced working hours among low-wage women. The findings suggest that a small equality-oriented wage component was insufficient to produce detectable wage gains for women or narrow the gender wage gap, with point estimates consistent with partial offsetting through other components of the contractual settlement. |
| Keywords: | collective bargaining, gender wage gap, equality allowance, targeted wage increases, Finland |
| JEL: | J52 J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18932 |
| By: | José María Guerrero Mata; Brendan Burchell |
| Abstract: | While debates surrounding reduced working hours and four-day working week models have expanded internationally, existing evidence remains concentrated in high-income countries and service-based sectors. Limited research has explored how working-time reduction operates within physically demanding industrial environments, particularly in Latin America, where long working hours and productivity concerns continue to shape organisational practices. This research examines the technical and social feasibility of phased working-time reduction within a Mexican industrial setting through a real-world intervention conducted in a precast concrete manufacturing plant in Monterrey. The study addresses this gap through a mixed-methods intervention implemented over three consecutive phases, gradually reducing the working week from 51 to 42 hours while maintaining operational continuity. Quantitative analysis combined objective operational indicators, including productivity, absenteeism and production costs, with repeated employee wellbeing surveys measuring stress, fatigue, recovery, sleep quality and work–life balance. Qualitative interviews further contextualised employees’ experiences. The findings suggest that phased working-time reduction can be implemented without negatively affecting operational performance. Despite substantial reductions in working hours, labour productivity per hour increased across the intervention phases, while absenteeism and production costs remained stable or decreased. Employees also reported better wellbeing, sleep quality and work–life balance without corresponding increases in perceived workload pressure. Rather than supporting the assumption that productivity depends primarily on extending working hours, the intervention suggests that organisational performance may also be linked to enhanced recovery, greater motivation and more sustainable forms of work organisation. |
| Keywords: | Working time reduction, labour productivity, employee wellbeing, work-life balance, blue-collar labour, Mexico, organisational change |
| JEL: | J22 J24 J28 J81 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbr:cbrwps:wp554 |
| By: | Ahmed Pirzada |
| Abstract: | Foreign remittances now exceed 5% of GDP in nearly a third of countries. However, despite their growing importance, we know little about how these shape the direction of structural transformation. I exploit sub-national variation in remittance dependence across districts in Pakistan to consider how these affect local labour markets both through own-district exposure and through geographic spillovers. I find that moving from the 25th to the 75th percentile of own remittance dependence raises the construction labour share by 1.0 percentage point, about 9% of the mean. However, the estimate remains imprecise. In contrast, the effect due to geographic spillover is not only large but also robust across specifications. Moving from 25th to the 75th percentile of geographic exposure raises the home district’s construction share by 3.1 percentage points and decreases the retail share by 3.2 percentage points, pointing to reallocation within the non-tradables. The construction boom also tightens regional labour market, increasing wages across sectors, including manufacturing. This pattern is consistent with a local dutch-disease channel where a boom in non-tradables increases factor prices across both non-tradables and tradables, potentially affecting competitiveness of the tradables. Data on household expenditure and input-output linkages support a demand-led interpretation. |
| Date: | 2026–01–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:uobdis:26/848 |
| By: | Joshua T. Dean; Christine L. Exley; Muriel Niederle; Heather Sarsons |
| Abstract: | Gender-neutral attitudes judge a behavior the same way regardless of whether a man or a woman does it. Yet surveys of gender attitudes typically ask respondents to evaluate statements about men's or women's behaviors in isolation, never eliciting how the same behavior is evaluated when assigned to the other gender. Such responses therefore cannot reveal whether respondents perceive society as holding gender-neutral views. We introduce paired (role-reversed) elicitation, which varies the gender assigned to otherwise identical behaviors. In a representative sample of Americans, responses to standard statements suggest that few respondents perceive society as holding traditional views toward women. In isolation, this may be seen as evidence that society has moved past gender roles that confine choices. The paired elicitation, however, reveals a gender-neutrality gap: only about half of respondents report the same beliefs across the standard and role-reversed statements, even though these statements only vary in terms of which gender is assigned to which behavior. Thus, a substantial portion of respondents believe that the social acceptability of different actions depends on gender. Paired responses also uncover substantial heterogeneity and reveal broader underlying beliefs driving responses, such as beliefs about work and family rather than gender-specific views. |
| JEL: | D1 J16 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35761 |