Does mobile Fintech utilization mediate the relationship between access to finance and sustainable entrepreneurial performance of women entrepreneurs in India?

Samanwita Mishra and Chandan Kumar Sahoo

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, 2025, vol. 20, issue 5, 1282-1306

Abstract: PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of mobile Fintech utilization (MFU) in the relationship between access to finance (FA) and sustainable entrepreneurial performance (SP) of women entrepreneurs from low economic backgrounds, drawing on the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical data were collected from 303 women micro-entrepreneurs linked to community-based organizations, such as self-help groups (SHGs), working in India, and analysed using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling technique.FindingsThe results showed that FA can have both direct and indirect impacts on the promotion of SP in low-income women entrepreneurs. The research also showed that MFU becomes an important mediating variable, which strengthens the relationship between FA and SP.Research limitations/implicationsPolicymakers, financial institutions, development agencies and impact investors should focus on bringing accessible, simple-to-use Fintech services in place to aid digital financial inclusion and literacy, especially to low-income people. Also, the governments can support this by ensuring that they invest in digital infrastructures, reduce regulatory barriers, and encourage public-private collaboration to increase Fintech-based financial inclusion programs.Originality/valueThis paper incorporates useful insights into the literature on sustainable performance by applying the lenses of the TOE framework to investigate the mediation effect of MFU in the delicate relationship that exists between financial access and sustainable entrepreneurial performance. Moreover, the research adds to the body of literature by targeting low-income and unbanked entrepreneurs among the SHG women in emerging economies, an under-researched target group.

Keywords: Access to finance (FA); Sustainable entrepreneurial performance (SP); Mobile fintech utilization (MFU); Community-based organizations (CBOs) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/jec/article/20/5/1282/1332 ... lization-mediate-the (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/jec/article-pdf/20/5/1282/ ... c-03-2025-0064en.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:jecpps:jec-03-2025-0064

DOI: 10.1108/JEC-03-2025-0064

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy is currently edited by Prof Leo Dana and Andrea Caputo

More articles in Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().