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Women’s bargaining power and household financial vulnerability: Evidence from China

Author

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  • Pan, Jia
  • Zhao, Haoqing
  • Li, Chengyou

Abstract

Reducing household financial vulnerability is essential for strengthening households’ financial resilience and enhancing national financial security. This paper develops a theoretical framework illustrating how women’s bargaining power influences household financial vulnerability and empirically tests this relationship using the 2015, 2017, and 2019 China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) data. The findings indicate that: (1) Strengthening women’s bargaining power significantly reduces household financial vulnerability. This effect remains stable after accounting for endogeneity concerns, substituting variable, reducing sample and modifying model. (2) The effect is heterogeneous across urban–rural areas and age groups. Specifically, the reduction effect is more pronounced for women in urban areas and those in youth and middle-aged groups. (3) Household expenditures on education and healthcare act as key mechanisms underlying this relationship. Greater women’s bargaining power facilitates an increase in these expenditures, thereby improving the household’s capacity to withstand financial shocks, ultimately alleviating household financial vulnerability.

Suggested Citation

  • Pan, Jia & Zhao, Haoqing & Li, Chengyou, 2025. "Women’s bargaining power and household financial vulnerability: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(PD).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:86:y:2025:i:pd:s1544612325019580
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2025.108704
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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