IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pacfin/v93y2025ics0927538x25001994.html

Gender of loan officers and loan performance: A pre-registered report

Author

Listed:
  • Chen, Mingwei
  • Xu, Kangyi
  • Gong, Di
  • Guo, Hongyu

Abstract

This pre-registered study tries to explore whether female loan officers maintain their advantage in credit quality in unsecured lending markets, as observed in secured lending markets. The study addresses three key research questions: (1) Whether female loan officers exhibit higher or lower loan performance compared to their male colleagues in unsecured lending; (2) The underlying factors driving the performance gap between male and female loan officers in this market; and (3) How digital lending models influence the credit quality of loans underwritten by female officers. This research provides empirical evidence on the performance differentials of female loan officers across secured and unsecured lending markets. The findings offer valuable insights for commercial banks seeking to optimize the credit assessment efficiency of loan officers and inform their digital transformation strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Mingwei & Xu, Kangyi & Gong, Di & Guo, Hongyu, 2025. "Gender of loan officers and loan performance: A pre-registered report," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:93:y:2025:i:c:s0927538x25001994
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2025.102862
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927538X25001994
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.pacfin.2025.102862?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Moro, Andrea & Wisniewski, Tomasz Piotr & Mantovani, Guido Massimiliano, 2017. "Does a manager's gender matter when accessing credit? Evidence from European data," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 119-134.
    2. Pham, Tho & Talavera, Oleksandr, 2018. "Discrimination, Social Capital, and Financial Constraints: The Case of Viet Nam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 228-242.
    3. Hadar Gafni & Marek Hudon & Anaïs Périlleux, 2021. "Business or Basic Needs? The Impact of Loan Purpose on Social Crowdfunding Platforms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(4), pages 777-793, November.
    4. Ludwig, Sandra & Fellner-Röhling, Gerlinde & Thoma, Carmen, 2017. "Do women have more shame than men? An experiment on self-assessment and the shame of overestimating oneself," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 31-46.
    5. 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).
    6. J. Aislinn Bohren & Alex Imas & Michael Rosenberg, 2019. "The Dynamics of Discrimination: Theory and Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(10), pages 3395-3436, October.
    7. Bellucci, Andrea & Borisov, Alexander & Zazzaro, Alberto, 2010. "Does gender matter in bank-firm relationships? Evidence from small business lending," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(12), pages 2968-2984, December.
    8. Palvia, Ajay & Vähämaa, Emilia & Vähämaa, Sami, 2020. "Female leadership and bank risk-taking: Evidence from the effects of real estate shocks on bank lending performance and default risk," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 897-909.
    9. Muriel Niederle & Lise Vesterlund, 2007. "Do Women Shy Away From Competition? Do Men Compete Too Much?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(3), pages 1067-1101.
    10. Fiona Wilson, 2016. "Making Loan Decisions in Banks: Straight from the Gut?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 53-63, August.
    11. Agier, Isabelle & Szafarz, Ariane, 2013. "Microfinance and Gender: Is There a Glass Ceiling on Loan Size?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 165-181.
    12. Chen, Jia & Jiang, Jiajun & Liu, Yu-jane, 2018. "Financial literacy and gender difference in loan performance," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 307-320.
    13. Naome Otiti & Cécile Godfroid & Roy Mersland & Bert D’Espallier, 2022. "Does it (Re)pay to be Female? Considering Gender in Microfinance Loan Officer-Client Pairs," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(2), pages 259-274, February.
    14. García-Meca, Emma & García-Sánchez, Isabel-María & Martínez-Ferrero, Jennifer, 2015. "Board diversity and its effects on bank performance: An international analysis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 202-214.
    15. Liao, Rose C. & Loureiro, Gilberto & Taboada, Alvaro G., 2022. "Gender quotas and bank risk," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    16. Delis, Manthos D. & Hasan, Iftekhar & Iosifidi, Maria & Ongena, Steven, 2022. "Gender, Credit, and Firm Outcomes," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 57(1), pages 359-389, February.
    17. Thorsten Beck & Patrick Behr & Andre Guettler, 2013. "Gender and Banking: Are Women Better Loan Officers?," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 17(4), pages 1279-1321.
    18. Rose C. Liao & Gilberto Loureiro & Alvaro G. Taboada, 2022. "Gender Quotas and Bank Risk," NIPE Working Papers 9/2022, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    19. J. Michelle Brock & Ralph De Haas, 2023. "Discriminatory Lending: Evidence from Bankers in the Lab," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 31-68, April.
    20. Beck, Thorsten & Behr, Patrick & Madestam, Andreas, 2018. "Sex and credit: Do gender interactions matter for credit market outcomes?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 380-396.
    21. Morazzoni, Marta & Sy, Andrea, 2022. "Female entrepreneurship, financial frictions and capital misallocation in the US," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 93-118.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bertrand, Jérémie & Burietz, Aurore, 2023. "(Loan) price and (loan officer) prejudice," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 26-42.
    2. Vojtech Bartos & Silvia Castro & Kristina Czura & Timm Opitz, 2023. "Gendered Access to Finance: The Role of Team Formation, Idea Quality, and Implementation Constraints in Business Evaluations," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 473, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    3. Pandey, Rudresh & He, Xian & Zhang, Dengjun, 2024. "Firms' gender composition, loan collateral, and sustainable finance," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    4. Anastasia Cozarenco & Ariane Szafarz, 2026. "Bias in Mission-Driven Finance: Discrimination or Mission Drift?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 203(1), pages 91-106, January.
    5. Chen, Xiao & Huang, Bihong & Ye, Dezhu, 2020. "Gender gap in peer-to-peer lending: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    6. Marta Reynal-Querol & José García-Montalvo, 2019. "Gender and Credit Risk: A View From the Loan Officer's Desk," Working Papers 1076, Barcelona School of Economics.
    7. Naome Otiti & Cécile Godfroid & Roy Mersland & Bert D’Espallier, 2022. "Does it (Re)pay to be Female? Considering Gender in Microfinance Loan Officer-Client Pairs," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(2), pages 259-274, February.
    8. 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.
    9. Bach, Thang Ngoc & Le, Thanh & Nguyen, Thang Xuan & Hoang, Khanh, 2023. "Gender discrimination, social networks and access to informal finance of Vietnamese small and medium enterprises," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 358-372.
    10. 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.
    11. Anastasia Cozarenco & Ariane Szafarz & Mike Tsionas, 2025. "Women, immigrants, and microcredit in Europe: a Bayesian approach," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 344(1), pages 103-134, January.
    12. Leandro Andrián & Oscar Mauricio Valencia, 2023. "Past the Tipping Point? Assessing Debt Overhang in Latin America and the Caribbean," IDB Publications (Book Chapters), in: Andrew Powell & Oscar Mauricio Valencia (ed.), Dealing with Debt, edition 1, chapter 8, pages 183-196, Inter-American Development Bank.
    13. Caroline PERRIN & Laurent WEILL, 2021. "No Men, No Cry? How Gender Equality in Access to Credit Enhances Financial Stability," Working Papers of LaRGE Research Center 2021-02, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie (LaRGE), Université de Strasbourg.
    14. J. Michelle Brock & Ralph De Haas, 2023. "Discriminatory Lending: Evidence from Bankers in the Lab," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 31-68, April.
    15. Xiao Chen & Bihong Huang & Dezhu Ye, 2019. "The Gender Gap in Peer-to-Peer Lending: Evidence from the People’s Republic of China," ADBI Working Papers 977, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    16. Abedifar, Pejman & Kashizadeh, Seyed Javad & Ongena, Steven, 2024. "Flood, farms and credit: The role of branch banking in the era of climate change," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    17. María Cecilia Acevedo & Leandro Andrián & Victoria Nuguer & Oscar Mauricio Valencia, 2023. "Understanding the Rise in Debt," IDB Publications (Book Chapters), in: Andrew Powell & Oscar Mauricio Valencia (ed.), Dealing with Debt, edition 1, chapter 4, pages 67-94, Inter-American Development Bank.
    18. Andrew Powell & Oscar Mauricio Valencia, 2023. "The Bottom Line on Debt," IDB Publications (Book Chapters), in: Andrew Powell & Oscar Mauricio Valencia (ed.), Dealing with Debt, edition 1, chapter 13, pages 309-318, Inter-American Development Bank.
    19. Pavlova, Elitsa & Gvetadze, Salome, 2023. "Female access to finance: A survey of literature," EIF Working Paper Series 2022/87, European Investment Fund (EIF).
    20. Leopoldo Avellán & Arturo Galindo & Giulia Lotti, 2023. "Official Creditors: Providing More than Money," IDB Publications (Book Chapters), in: Andrew Powell & Oscar Mauricio Valencia (ed.), Dealing with Debt, edition 1, chapter 7, pages 161-182, Inter-American Development Bank.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • 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

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:93:y:2025:i:c:s0927538x25001994. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/pacfin .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.