The Role of Gender in Technology Adoption: Evidence from Digital Payment Methods

This project studies the gender gap in technology adoption. In particular, the technology we focus on is digital payment methods. We leverage a dataset spanning all transfers between individuals via cellphone platforms in Costa Rica (similar to Venmo and PayPal in the U.S.) to document different patterns of adoption by gender and the determinants of these differences. We also use data on purchases and firm creation to explore the role of digital payment technologies in empowering women as consumers and as entrepreneurs.