Are Women More Credit Constrained? Experimental Evidence on Gender and Microenterprise Returns

de Mel, Suresh ; McKenzie, David ; Woodruff, Christopher

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ACCESS TO BANK;    ACCESS TO BANK LOANS;    ACCESS TO CAPITAL;    ACCESS TO CREDIT;    ACCESS TO FINANCE;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-4746
RP-ID  :  WPS4746

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper analyzes data from arandomized experiment on mean returns to capital in SriLankan micro-enterprises. The findings show greater returnsamong men than among women; indeed, returns were notdifferent from zero for women. The authors explore differentexplanations for the lower returns among female owners, andfind no evidence that the gender gap is explained bydifferences in ability, risk aversion, or entrepreneurialattitudes. Differential access to unpaid family labor andsocial constraints limiting sales to local areas are notimportant. However, there is evidence that women investedgrants differently from men. A smaller share of the smallergrants remained in the female-owned enterprises, and menwere more likely to spend the grant on working capital andwomen on equipment. The gender gap is largest whenmale-dominated sectors are compared with female-dominatedsectors, although female returns are lower than male returnseven for females working in the same industries as men. Theauthors examine the heterogeneity of returns to determinewhether any group of businesses owned by women benefit fromeasing capital constraints. The results suggest there is alarge group of high-return male owners and a smaller groupof poor, high-ability, female owners who might benefit frommore access to capital.