Gender and discouraged borrowers: Evidence from India

Using cross‐section data on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the paper examines the importance of gender on discouraged borrowers in India. We distinguish the role of women across various capacities, such as owner, manager and owner‐manager. Controlling for potential endogeneity, the findings indicate that firms with women managers and those where women perform dual roles are more likely to be discouraged from borrowing. Furthermore, we show that interest rates and procedural complexities to be the key reasons that inhibit borrowing. Robustness tests lend credence to these findings.