The impact of bank fintech on corporate employment

Using Chinese A-share non-financial listed firms from 2014 to 2024, this study examines how bank fintech affects corporate employment. We construct a firm-level bank fintech exposure measure by matching banks’ fintech patents with firm-bank loan relationships. Bank fintech significantly expands corporate employment through financing enhancement and investment expansion channels, with stronger effects for digitally transformed firms, high-growth firms, labor-intensive industries, and in regions with high human capital or limited financial development. However, this employment growth is not distributionally neutral. Further analysis reveals a low-skill-biased employment effect, as employment expands disproportionately among low-skilled workers. Concurrently, the labor income share declines as value-added growth outpaces wage growth, indicating capital-deepening growth accompanied by efficiency-equity trade-offs. Bank fintech also enhances corporate performance through synergistic effects with employment expansion. This study provides micro-level evidence from a bank-dominated emerging economy, clarifying how bank fintech adoption reshapes employment quantity and labor market structure, with implications for balancing efficiency gains and distributional equity.