Reexamining the gender gap in microlending funding decisions: the role of borrower culture

Drawing on gender role theory and the extant research on gender and financing, we investigate the extent to which gender of the borrower and the gender egalitarianism practices dimension of the borrower’s societal culture interact to influence the amount of funding received in a microlending context. Using single-person project data from Kiva, a global online microlending organization, and national culture data from the GLOBE project, we find a main effect of gender, in that women borrowers raise less funding than men, but this effect is moderated by gender egalitarianism practices in the borrowers’ home culture. Specifically, when gender egalitarianism of their home culture is low, women borrowers receive more funding than men. Our discussion of these findings provides a nuanced explanation for why—despite the existence of underlying, widespread bias against women around the world—microlending may help women in especially challenging and exclusionary cultural situations gain funding.