Gender Bias in SME Lending : Experimental Evidence from Turkey

Alibhai, Salman ; Donald, Aletheia ; Goldstein, Markus ; Oguz, Alper Ahmet ; Pankov, Alexander ; Strobbe, Francesco

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: GENDER BIAS;    SME FINANCE;    FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS;    ACCESS TO FINANCE;    GENDER GAP;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-9100
RP-ID  :  WPS9100

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Gender disparities in small andmedium-size enterprise lending exist around the world andimpede the growth of millions of women-led firms. This paperexamines a potential driver of these disparities:gender-biased loan officers. Officer bias is measuredthrough a novel loan application experiment conducted with77 loan officers in Turkish banks. The analysis finds that35 percent of the loan officers are biased against femaleapplicants, with women receiving loan amounts $14,000 loweron average compared with men. Experience in the bankingsector can attenuate this bias, with each year of experiencereducing gender biased loan allocations by 6 percent. Theresults suggest that loan officers may use gender bias as aheuristic device given limited information and riskaversion. Helping newly recruited and lesser experiencedloan officers to better discern loan application quality maythus improve financing of business loans to women and reducegender gaps in entrepreneurship.