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Gender, Credit, and Firm Outcomes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2020

Manthos D. Delis ,
Iftekhar Hasan Open the ORCID record for Iftekhar Hasan [Opens in a new window] ,
Maria Iosifidi  and
Steven Ongena
Manthos D. Delis
Affiliation:
Montpellier Business School, Montpellier Research in Management m.delis@montpellier-bs.com
Iftekhar Hasan*
Affiliation:
Fordham University, Bank of Finland, and University of Sydney
Maria Iosifidi
Affiliation:
Montpellier Business School, Montpellier Research in Management m.iosifidi@montpellier-bs.com
Steven Ongena
Affiliation:
University of Zurich, Swiss Finance Institute, KU Leuven, and CEPR steven.ongena@bf.uzh.ch
*
ihasan@fordham.edu (corresponding author)
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Abstract

Small and micro-enterprises are usually majority-owned by entrepreneurs. Using a unique sample of loan applications from such firms, we study the role of owners’ gender in bank credit decisions and post-credit-decision firm outcomes. We find that, ceteris paribus, female entrepreneurs are more prudent loan applicants than are males because they are less likely to apply for credit or to default after loan origination. The relatively more aggressive behavior of male applicants pays off, however, in terms of higher average firm performance after loan origination.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis , Volume 57 , Issue 1 , February 2022 , pp. 359 - 389
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Michael G. Foster School of Business, University of Washington

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Footnotes

Ongena acknowledges financial support from grant ERC ADG 2016-GA 740272 lending from the European Research Council.

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