STEM and new fintech ventures

This paper connects Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) to the establishment of new fintech ventures (NFVs). Leveraging a longitudinal dataset covering 149 countries over the 2005–2022 period, we provide pioneering evidence that STEM is linked to fintech formation. NFVs are more frequently established in countries with a higher fraction of STEM graduates. We unpack fintech in its two components, finance and technology, to document that the connection between STEM and the formation of NFVs is less pronounced in countries with more established traditional finance and information technology.