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Credit access for female firms: evidence from a survey on European SMEs

Author

Listed:
  • Maria Lucia Stefani

    (Bank of Italy)

  • Valerio Vacca

    (Bank of Italy)

Abstract

This paper uses ECB survey data to assess whether gender matters in the small firms� financial structure and access to credit. Firms owned or managed by women (female firms) use smaller amounts and less heterogeneous sources of external finance than their male counterparts. According to statistical evidence, female firms have difficulty in accessing bank finance: on the demand side, they apply for bank loans less frequently, as they more often anticipate a rejection; on the supply side, they experience a higher rejection rate. Econometric analysis shows that these different patterns are largely explained by the characteristics (such as business size, age and sector of activity) that make female firms structurally different from those led by men, without leaving room for a significant gender effect. An additional contribution of this paper is to compare the major euro-area countries within a homogeneous framework: weak evidence of gender discrimination appears in the supply of bank loans in Germany, Italy and Spain, while some demand obstacles arise in France.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Lucia Stefani & Valerio Vacca, 2013. "Credit access for female firms: evidence from a survey on European SMEs," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 176, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
  • Handle: RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_176_13
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    File URL: https://www.bancaditalia.it/pubblicazioni/qef/2013-0176/QEF_176.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Kärnä Anders, 2021. "Take it to the (public) bank: The efficiency of public bank loans to private firms," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 22(1), pages 27-62, February.
    2. José Garcia Montalvo & Marta Reynal-Querol, 2019. "Gender and credit risk: a view from the loan officer's desk," Economics Working Papers 1644, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    3. de Andrés, Pablo & Gimeno, Ricardo & Mateos de Cabo, Ruth, 2021. "The gender gap in bank credit access," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    4. Sharon Poczter & Melanie Shapsis, 2018. "Gender disparity in angel financing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 31-55, June.
    5. Hewa-Wellalage, Nirosha & Boubaker, Sabri & Hunjra, Ahmed Imran & Verhoeven, Peter, 2022. "The gender gap in access to finance: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PA).
    6. Stefania Basiglio & Paola De Vincentiis & Eleonora Isaia & Mariacristina Rossi, 2019. "Credit Access and Approval," Working papers 061, Department of Economics and Statistics (Dipartimento di Scienze Economico-Sociali e Matematico-Statistiche), University of Torino.
    7. AfDB AfDB, 2015. "North Africa - Working paper - Promoting North African Women’s Employment through SMEs," Working Paper Series 2321, African Development Bank.
    8. Andrea F. Presbitero & Roberta Rabellotti & Claudia Piras, 2014. "Barking up the Wrong Tree? Measuring Gender Gaps in Firm's Access to Finance," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(10), pages 1430-1444, November.
    9. Pavlova, Elitsa & Gvetadze, Salome, 2023. "Female access to finance: A survey of literature," EIF Working Paper Series 2022/87, European Investment Fund (EIF).
    10. Paolo Emilio Mistrulli & Md Taslim Uddin & Alberto Zazzaro, 2023. "Discrimination of Immigrants in Mortgage Pricing and Approval: Evidence from Italy," CSEF Working Papers 675, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy.
    11. Giorgio Calcagnini & Germana Giombini & Elisa Lenti, 2015. "Gender Differences in Bank Loan Access: An Empirical Analysis," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 1(2), pages 193-217, July.
    12. Jean-Christophe Statnik & Thi-Le-Giang Vu & Laurent Weill, 2023. "Does Corruption Discourage More Female Entrepreneurs from Applying for Credit?," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 65(1), pages 1-28, March.
    13. Francesco Campanella & Luana Serino, 2019. "Gender and Financial Constraints: An Empirical Investigation in Italy," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(2), pages 109-120, April.
    14. Terrence Kairiza & Philemon Kiprono & Vengesai Magadzire, 2017. "Gender differences in financial inclusion amongst entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 259-272, January.
    15. Ioannis Giotopoulos & Alexandra Kontolaimou & Aggelos Tsakanikas, 2017. "Drivers of high-quality entrepreneurship: what changes did the crisis bring about?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 913-930, April.
    16. YVES ROBICHAUD & JEAN-CHARLES CACHON & EGBERT McGRAW, 2019. "Gender Differences In Venture Financing: A Study Among Canadian And Us Entrepreneurs," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 24(03), pages 1-21, September.
    17. Voitkane, Aija & Johansson, Jeaneth & Malmström, Malin & Wincent, Joakim, 2019. "How much does the “same-gender effect” matter in VCs' assessments of entrepreneurs?," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 12(C).
    18. Daniele Coin, 2013. "Are female entrepreneurs better payers than men?," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 186, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    19. Francesca Maria Cesaroni & Francesca Lotti & Paolo Emilio Mistrulli, 2013. "Female firms and banks� lending behaviour: what happened during the great recession?," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 177, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    20. Claudia Piras & Andrea Filippo Presbitero & Roberta Rabellotti, 2013. "Definitions Matter: Measuring Gender Gaps in Firms' Access to Credit," Mo.Fi.R. Working Papers 90, Money and Finance Research group (Mo.Fi.R.) - Univ. Politecnica Marche - Dept. Economic and Social Sciences.
    21. Reynal-Querol, Marta & García-Montalvo, José, 2020. "Gender And Credit Risk: A View From The Loan Officer'S Desk," CEPR Discussion Papers 14500, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    22. José García-Montalvo & Marta Reynal-Querol, 2019. "Gender and Credit Risk: A View From the Loan Officer’s Desk," Working Papers 1076, Barcelona School of Economics.
    23. Basiglio, Stefania, 2018. "Essays on financial behaviour of households and firms," Other publications TiSEM c13423c5-8bf2-44a7-baa7-3, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    24. Stefania Basiglio & Paola Vincentiis & Eleonora Isaia & Mariacristina Rossi, 2023. "Women-led Firms and Credit Access. A Gendered Story?," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 9(1), pages 199-233, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    financial structure; banking; economics of gender; small business finance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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