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Definitions Matter: Measuring Gender Gaps in Firms' Access to Credit

Author

Listed:
  • Claudia Piras

    (IDB)

  • Andrea Filippo Presbitero

    (International Monetary Fund, Universit… Politecnica delle Marche - MoFiR)

  • Roberta Rabellotti

    (Universit… di Pavia, Department of Political and Social Sciences)

Abstract

Standards measures of female ownership and management of firms included in the World Bank Enterprise Survey do not support the existence of a gender gap in access to finance in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Nonetheless, more precise measures show that women-led businesses are more likely to be financially constrained than other comparable firms. The evidence presented herein suggests that this gender gap may be driven by taste-based discrimination. This paper exploits a rich dataset that provides detailed information about female ownership and management in firms, allowing for further understanding of gender gaps in access to finance.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:anc:wmofir:90
    as

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    File URL: http://docs.dises.univpm.it/web/quaderni/pdfmofir/Mofir090.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2013
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Rolando Gonzales & Gabriela Aguilera-Lizarazu & Andrea Rojas-Hosse & Patricia Aranda, 2016. "Preference for women but less preference for indigenous women: A lab-field experiment of loan discrimination in a developing economy," Working Papers PIERI 2016-24, PEP-PIERI.
    2. Rolando Gonzales Martínez & Gabriela Aguilera‐Lizarazu & Andrea Rojas‐Hosse & Patricia Aranda Blanco, 2020. "The interaction effect of gender and ethnicity in loan approval: A Bayesian estimation with data from a laboratory field experiment," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 726-749, August.
    3. AfDB AfDB, 2015. "North Africa - Working paper - Promoting North African Women’s Employment through SMEs," Working Paper Series 2321, African Development Bank.
    4. Naranchimeg Mijid & Caroline Elliott, 2015. "Gender differences in Type 1 credit rationing of small businesses in the US," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 1021553-102, December.
    5. Bailey, Rachel & Hartarska, Valentina, 2017. "Women's Property Rights and Outreach of Microfinance Institutions Targeting Women," 2017 Annual Meeting, February 4-7, 2017, Mobile, Alabama 253159, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Access to credit; Discrimination; Firm ownership; Gender;
    All these 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
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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