IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/sbusec/v62y2024i3d10.1007_s11187-023-00796-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What microfinance schemes for women-owned microenterprises’ productivity in rural Benin?

Author

Listed:
  • Rose Fiamohe

    (Université d’Abomey-Calavi (UAC))

  • Sènakpon Fidèle Ange Dedehouanou

    (Université d’Abomey-Calavi (UAC))

  • Abdelkrim Araar

    (Université Laval)

Abstract

Government and financial institutions are attempting to address the low financial inclusion for developing sustainable microenterprises in rural Benin. Yet, their actions remain to be guided by evidence pertaining to the design of financing schemes intended to boost rural women-owned enterprises. This paper focuses on the relationship between the various financing schemes that exist and the economic performance of women-owned enterprises in rural Benin, using a sample of 3949 small businesses. Results show that social network-based financing improves the business performance of rural women entrepreneurs in small-scale commerce. This is also the case for microenterprises managed by adult women and women with primary-school education. Formal credit-based financing increases the profit margins of mature microenterprises owned by women. This paper also shows that self-financing is more profitable for young rural women entrepreneurs. The results partly inform the need to target women more in financing policies in Benin.

Suggested Citation

  • Rose Fiamohe & Sènakpon Fidèle Ange Dedehouanou & Abdelkrim Araar, 2024. "What microfinance schemes for women-owned microenterprises’ productivity in rural Benin?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 1075-1097, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:62:y:2024:i:3:d:10.1007_s11187-023-00796-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-023-00796-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11187-023-00796-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11187-023-00796-w?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David McKenzie, 2017. "Identifying and Spurring High-Growth Entrepreneurship: Experimental Evidence from a Business Plan Competition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(8), pages 2278-2307, August.
    2. Dubin, Jeffrey A & McFadden, Daniel L, 1984. "An Econometric Analysis of Residential Electric Appliance Holdings and Consumption," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(2), pages 345-362, March.
    3. Emma Galli & Stefania P. S. Rossi, 2016. "Bank Credit Access and Gender Discrimination: Some Stylized Facts," Contributions to Economics, in: Stefania P.S. Rossi & Roberto Malavasi (ed.), Financial Crisis, Bank Behaviour and Credit Crunch, edition 1, pages 111-123, Springer.
    4. Robert Fairlie & Alicia Robb, 2009. "Gender differences in business performance: evidence from the Characteristics of Business Owners survey," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 375-395, December.
    5. Aterido, Reyes & Beck, Thorsten & Iacovone, Leonardo, 2013. "Access to Finance in Sub-Saharan Africa: Is There a Gender Gap?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 102-120.
    6. Melain Modeste Senou & Julius Manda, 2022. "Access to finance and rural youth entrepreneurship in Benin: Is there a gender gap?," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 34(1), pages 29-41, March.
    7. Ephrem Niyongabo & Anaïs Périlleux, 2010. "Microfinance et financement de l'investissement en milieu rural.. Potentiel des coopératives et synergies avec les politiques publiques," Mondes en développement, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(4), pages 45-56.
    8. François Bourguignon & Martin Fournier & Marc Gurgand, 2007. "Selection Bias Corrections Based On The Multinomial Logit Model: Monte Carlo Comparisons," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(1), pages 174-205, February.
    9. Pamela Jakiela & Owen Ozier, 2016. "Does Africa Need a Rotten Kin Theorem? Experimental Evidence from Village Economies," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 83(1), pages 231-268.
    10. Susan Coleman & Dafna Kariv, 2013. "Gender, Performance And Financial Strategy: A Dynamic Capabilities Perspective," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 18(03), pages 1-24.
    11. Bruno Crépon & Florencia Devoto & Esther Duflo & William Parienté, 2015. "Estimating the Impact of Microcredit on Those Who Take It Up: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Morocco," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(1), pages 123-150, January.
    12. Touheda Yasmin Chowdhury & Aysa Yeasmin & Zobayer Ahmed, 2018. "Perception of women entrepreneurs to accessing bank credit," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 8(1), pages 1-16, December.
    13. Muravyev, Alexander & Talavera, Oleksandr & Schäfer, Dorothea, 2009. "Entrepreneurs' gender and financial constraints: Evidence from international data," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 270-286, June.
    14. Pascaline Dupas & Jonathan Robinson, 2013. "Savings Constraints and Microenterprise Development: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Kenya," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 163-192, January.
    15. Menale Kassie & Hailemariam Teklewold & Paswel Marenya & Moti Jaleta & Olaf Erenstein, 2015. "Production Risks and Food Security under Alternative Technology Choices in Malawi: Application of a Multinomial Endogenous Switching Regression," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(3), pages 640-659, September.
    16. Babbitt, Laura G. & Brown, Drusilla & Mazaheri, Nimah, 2015. "Gender, Entrepreneurship, and the Formal–Informal Dilemma: Evidence from Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 163-174.
    17. Eva Atu Alhassan & Mabel Akosua Hoedoafia & Imoro Braimah, 2016. "The Effects of Microcredit on Profitability and the Challenges on Women Owned SMEs: Evidence from Northern Ghana," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation, Macrothink Institute, Journal of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation, vol. 3(1), pages 2947-2947, December.
    18. Susan Coleman & Alicia Robb, 2009. "A comparison of new firm financing by gender: evidence from the Kauffman Firm Survey data," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 397-411, December.
    19. Fafchamps, Marcel & McKenzie, David & Quinn, Simon & Woodruff, Christopher, 2014. "Microenterprise growth and the flypaper effect: Evidence from a randomized experiment in Ghana," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 211-226.
    20. Arielle Bernhardt & Erica Field & Rohini Pande & Natalia Rigol, 2019. "Household Matters: Revisiting the Returns to Capital among Female Microentrepreneurs," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 1(2), pages 141-160, September.
    21. Elena Bardasi & Shwetlena Sabarwal & Katherine Terrell, 2011. "How do female entrepreneurs perform? Evidence from three developing regions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 417-441, November.
    22. Candida G. Brush, 1992. "Research on Women Business Owners: Past Trends, a New Perspective and Future Directions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 16(4), pages 5-30, July.
    23. Gary S. Becker, 1964. "Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, First Edition," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck-5.
    24. Greg Hundley, 2001. "Why Women Earn Less Than Men in Self-Employment," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 22(4), pages 817-829, October.
    25. Garcia Perez, Jose Ignacio & Rebollo Sanz, Yolanda, 2005. "Wage changes through job mobility in Europe: A multinomial endogenous switching approach," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 531-555, August.
    26. Kadyrbek Sultakeev & Kamalbek Karymshakov & Burulcha Sulaimanova, 2018. "The Impact Of Microfinance On Entrepreneurship In Kyrgyzstan," Acta Oeconomica Pragensia, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2018(2), pages 24-40.
    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. Sara Poggesi & Michela Mari & Luisa Vita, 2016. "What’s new in female entrepreneurship research? Answers from the literature," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 735-764, September.
    2. Elena Bardasi & Shwetlena Sabarwal & Katherine Terrell, 2011. "How do female entrepreneurs perform? Evidence from three developing regions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 417-441, November.
    3. Ubfal,Diego Javier, 2024. "What Works in Supporting Women-Led Businesses ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10744, The World Bank.
    4. Emma Galli & Danilo V. Mascia & Stefania P. S. Rossi, 2020. "Bank credit constraints for women‐led SMEs: Self‐restraint or lender bias?," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 26(4), pages 1147-1188, September.
    5. Saibal Ghosh, 2023. "Gender and discouraged borrowers: Evidence from India," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(7), pages 1731-1752, October.
    6. Gazeaud, Jules & Khan, Nausheen & Mvukiyehe, Eric & Sterck, Olivier, 2023. "With or without him? Experimental evidence on cash grants and gender-sensitive trainings in Tunisia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    7. Oriana Bandiera & Robin Burgess & Erika Deserranno & Ricardo Morel & Imran Rasul & Munshi Sulaiman & Jack Thiemel, 2022. "Microfinance and Diversification," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(S1), pages 239-275, June.
    8. Kalnins, Arturs & Williams, Michele, 2014. "When do female-owned businesses out-survive male-owned businesses? A disaggregated approach by industry and geography," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 822-835.
    9. Kausik Chaudhuri & Subash Sasidharan & Rajesh Seethamma Natarajan Raj, 2020. "Gender, small firm ownership, and credit access: some insights from India," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 1165-1181, April.
    10. Islam, Asif M. & Amin, Mohammad, 2023. "The gender labor productivity gap across informal firms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    11. Charles Ackah & Holger Görg & Aoife Hanley & Cecilia Hornok, 2024. "Africa’s businesswomen – underfunded or underperforming?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 1051-1074, March.
    12. Helke Seitz, 2020. "Subgroup Analysis of Investment Constraints: Evidence from Ugandan Microenterprises," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1920, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    13. Zhao Ding & Awudu Abdulai, 2020. "An Analysis of the Factors Influencing Choice of Microcredit Sources and Impact of Participation on Household Income," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 505-525, May.
    14. María José Ibáñez & Felipe Vásquez Lavin & Roberto D. Ponce Oliva, 2023. "Female Underperformance Hypothesis Revisited: Methodological Review and Empirical Testing," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    15. Alonso-Almeida, María del Mar, 2013. "Influence of gender and financing on tourist company growth," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(5), pages 621-631.
    16. Carlotta Nani, 2024. "Perceived abilities and gender stereotypes within the household: experimental evidence from Bangladesh," IHEID Working Papers 19-2024, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies.
    17. Blount, Ian & Triana, Maria del Carmen & Richard, Orlando & Li, Mingxiang, 2023. "How women CEOs’ financial knowledge and firm homophily affect venture performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PA).
    18. 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.
    19. Simone Schaner, 2018. "The Persistent Power of Behavioral Change: Long-Run Impacts of Temporary Savings Subsidies for the Poor," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(3), pages 67-100, July.
    20. Sabarwal, Shwetlena & Terrell, Katherine, 2008. "Does Gender Matter for Firm Performance? Evidence from Eastern Europe and Central Asia," IZA Discussion Papers 3758, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Microenterprise; Financial inclusion; Rural women; Benin;
    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
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • M21 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Economics - - - Business Economics
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

    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:kap:sbusec:v:62:y:2024:i:3:d:10.1007_s11187-023-00796-w. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.