IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jdevst/v58y2022i2p259-274.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does it (Re)pay to be Female? Considering Gender in Microfinance Loan Officer-Client Pairs

Author

Listed:
  • Naome Otiti
  • Cécile Godfroid
  • Roy Mersland
  • Bert D’Espallier

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of the gender combination of client-loan officer pairs on loan repayment in an Ecuadorian microfinance institution. We show that among the four possible client-loan officer gender pairs i.e. female client-female loan officer, female client-male loan officer, male client-male loan officer and male client-female loan officer, the most favourable pairs in terms of repayment are those with female loan officers whereas the least favourable are those with male loan officers. We also show that repayment is even further enhanced for all client-loan officer pairs when the client’s previous loan officer was a woman. Our findings point to relational differences between male and female loan officers when interacting with microfinance clients, which is also highlighted by our qualitative insights from the field.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:58:y:2022:i:2:p:259-274
    DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2021.1983167
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00220388.2021.1983167
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00220388.2021.1983167?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 look for a different version below or

    for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Curhan, Jared R. & Neale, Margaret A. & Ross, Lee & Rosencranz-Engelmann, Jesse, 2008. "Relational accommodation in negotiation: Effects of egalitarianism and gender on economic efficiency and relational capital," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 107(2), pages 192-205, November.
    3. Kray, Laura J. & Galinsky, Adam D. & Thompson, Leigh, 2002. "Reversing the Gender Gap in Negotiations: An Exploration of Stereotype Regeneration," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 386-410, March.
    4. Allen N. Berger & Gregory F. Udell, 2002. "Small Business Credit Availability and Relationship Lending: The Importance of Bank Organisational Structure," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(477), pages 32-53, February.
    5. Matthias Sutter & Ronald Bosman & Martin Kocher & Frans Winden, 2009. "Gender pairing and bargaining—Beware the same sex!," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 12(3), pages 318-331, September.
    6. Aggarwal, Raj & Goodell, John W. & Selleck, Lauren J., 2015. "Lending to women in microfinance: Role of social trust," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 55-65.
    7. Jonathan Morduch, 1999. "The Microfinance Promise," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1569-1614, December.
    8. Rajan, Raghuram G, 1992. "Insiders and Outsiders: The Choice between Informed and Arm's-Length Debt," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1367-1400, September.
    9. D’Espallier, Bert & Guérin, Isabelle & Mersland, Roy, 2011. "Women and Repayment in Microfinance: A Global Analysis," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 39(5), pages 758-772.
    10. Nabanita Datta Gupta & Anders Poulsen & Marie Claire Villeval, 2013. "Gender Matching And Competitiveness: Experimental Evidence," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 51(1), pages 816-835, January.
    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. Uchida, Hirofumi & Udell, Gregory F. & Yamori, Nobuyoshi, 2012. "Loan officers and relationship lending to SMEs," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 97-122.
    13. Schicks, Jessica, 2014. "Over-Indebtedness in Microfinance – An Empirical Analysis of Related Factors on the Borrower Level," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 301-324.
    14. Behr, Patrick & Entzian, Annekathrin & Güttler, Andre, 2011. "How do lending relationships affect access to credit and loan conditions in microlending?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 2169-2178, August.
    15. Schrader, Jan, 2009. "The Competition between Relationship-Based Microfinance and Transaction Lending," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Frankfurt a.M. 2009 31, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    16. 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.
    17. Rachel Croson & Uri Gneezy, 2009. "Gender Differences in Preferences," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(2), pages 448-474, June.
    18. Charness, Gary & Gneezy, Uri, 2012. "Strong Evidence for Gender Differences in Risk Taking," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 50-58.
    19. Antonio Blanco-Oliver & Nuria Reguera-Alvarado & Gianluca Veronesi, 2021. "Credit risk in the microfinance industry: The role of gender affinity," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(2), pages 280-311, March.
    20. William C. Dunkelberg & Jonathan A. Scott, 1999. "Bank consolidation and small business lending: a small firm perspective," Proceedings 760, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    21. Uri Gneezy & Kenneth L. Leonard & John A. List, 2009. "Gender Differences in Competition: Evidence From a Matrilineal and a Patriarchal Society," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(5), pages 1637-1664, September.
    22. Moro, Andrea & Fink, Matthias, 2013. "Loan managers’ trust and credit access for SMEs," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 927-936.
    23. Alejandro Drexler & Antoinette Schoar, 2014. "Do Relationships Matter? Evidence from Loan Officer Turnover," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(11), pages 2722-2736, November.
    24. Peter Foreman & David A. Whetten, 2002. "Members' Identification with Multiple-Identity Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(6), pages 618-635, December.
    25. Philip Mader, 2018. "Contesting Financial Inclusion," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 49(2), pages 461-483, March.
    26. Eckel, Catherine C & Grossman, Philip J, 2001. "Chivalry and Solidarity in Ultimatum Games," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(2), pages 171-188, April.
    27. Beisland, Leif Atle & D’Espallier, Bert & Mersland, Roy, 2019. "The Commercialization of the Microfinance Industry: Is There a "Personal Mission Drift" Among Credit Officers?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 158(1), pages 119-134.
    28. Slonim, Robert & Guillen, Pablo, 2010. "Gender selection discrimination: Evidence from a Trust game," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 385-405, November.
    29. Rodrigo Canales & Jason Greenberg, 2016. "A Matter of (Relational) Style: Loan Officer Consistency and Exchange Continuity in Microfinance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(4), pages 1202-1224, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Roger Aganze & Roy Mersland & Bert D’Espallier & Kjetil Andersson, 2025. "Determinants of Sustainability of Informal Community-Based Financial Groups: Insights from a Survival Analysis Approach," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 61(10), pages 1660-1682, October.
    3. Uddin, Md Hamid & Akter, Shabiha & Mollah, Sabur & Al Mahi, Masnun, 2022. "Differences in bank and microfinance business models: An analysis of the loan monitoring systems and funding sources," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).

    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. 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.
    3. Hubert Tchakoute Tchuigoua, 2023. "Loan officer gender and loan repayment performance. Evidence from greenfield microfinance institutions in Cameroon1," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94(2), pages 519-548, June.
    4. Moez Bennouri & Anastasia Cozarenco & Samuel Anokye Nyarko, 2024. "Women on Boards and Performance Trade-offs in Social Enterprises: Insights from Microfinance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 190(1), pages 165-198, February.
    5. Shahriar, Abu Zafar M. & Unda, Luisa A. & Alam, Quamrul, 2020. "Gender differences in the repayment of microcredit: The mediating role of trustworthiness," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    6. Marcus Dittrich & Andreas Knabe & Kristina Leipold, 2014. "Gender Differences In Experimental Wage Negotiations," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 52(2), pages 862-873, April.
    7. Nyarko, Samuel Anokye, 2022. "Gender discrimination and lending to women: The moderating effect of an international founder," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(4).
    8. Udichibarna Bose & Stefano Filomeni & Elena Tabacco, 2025. "Does Soft Information Mitigate Gender Bias in Corporate Lending?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 198(2), pages 437-466, May.
    9. Cueva, Carlos & Rustichini, Aldo, 2015. "Is financial instability male-driven? Gender and cognitive skills in experimental asset markets," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 330-344.
    10. Marcus Dittrich & Kristina Leipold, 2014. "Gender Differences in Strategic Reasoning," CESifo Working Paper Series 4763, CESifo.
    11. Huang, Jennie & Low, Corinne, 2022. "The myth of the male negotiator: Gender’s effect on negotiation strategies and outcomes," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 517-532.
    12. Md Aslam Mia & Lucia Dalla Pellegrina & Wai‐Yan Wong, 2022. "Female participation and financial performance of microfinance institutions: Evidence from transition economies," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 40(5), September.
    13. Godfroid, Cécile & Otiti, Naome & Mersland, Roy, 2022. "Employee tenure and staff performance: The case of a social enterprise," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 457-467.
    14. Blanco-Oliver, A.J. & Irimia-Diéguez, A.I. & Vázquez-Cueto, M.J., 2023. "Is there an optimal microcredit size to maximize the social and financial efficiencies of microfinance institutions?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    15. Rajeev Kumar Revulagadda & K. S. Ranjani & Sanjeev Kumar, 2025. "Impact of credit risk mitigation on mission drift in Indian MFIs," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 27(2), pages 393-407, August.
    16. A. Blanco-Oliver & A. Irimia-Diéguez, 2021. "Impact of outreach on financial performance of microfinance institutions: a moderated mediation model of productivity, loan portfolio quality, and profit status," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 633-668, April.
    17. Dittrich, Marcus & Leipold, Kristina, 2014. "Gender differences in time preferences," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 413-415.
    18. Kessel, Dany & Mollerstrom, Johanna & van Veldhuizen, Roel, 2021. "Can simple advice eliminate the gender gap in willingness to compete?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 138, pages 1-1.
    19. Mario Daniele Amore & Orsola Garofalo & Alessandro Minichilli, 2014. "Gender Interactions Within the Family Firm," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(5), pages 1083-1097, May.
    20. Castillo, Marco & Petrie, Ragan & Torero, Maximo & Vesterlund, Lise, 2013. "Gender differences in bargaining outcomes: A field experiment on discrimination," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 35-48.

    More about this item

    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:taf:jdevst:v:58:y:2022:i:2:p:259-274. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/FJDS20 .

    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.