Are Women More Credit Constrained? Experimental Evidence on Gender and Microenterprise Returns
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Abstract
We report on a field experiment providing random grants to microenterprise owners. The grants generated large profit increases for male owners but not for female owners. We show that the gender gap does not simply mask differences in ability, risk aversion, entrepreneurial attitudes, or differences in reporting behavior, but there is some evidence that the gender gap is larger in female-dominated industries. The data are not consistent with a unitary household model, and imply an inefficiency of resource allocation within households. We show evidence that this inefficiency is reduced in more cooperative households. (JEL D13, D14, J16, L25, L26, O12, O16)Citation
de Mel, Suresh, David McKenzie, and Christopher Woodruff. 2009. "Are Women More Credit Constrained? Experimental Evidence on Gender and Microenterprise Returns." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 1 (3): 1-32. DOI: 10.1257/app.1.3.1Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D13 Household Production and Intrahousehold Allocation
- D14 Personal Finance
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- L25 Firm Performance: Size, Diversification, and Scope
- L26 Entrepreneurship
- O12 Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
- O16 Economic Development: Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
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