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Firm, owner, and financing characteristics: differences between female- and male-owned small businesses

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  • Alicia M. Robb
  • John D. Wolken

Abstract

Differences in financing patterns and financial characteristics between female- and male-owned firms are often attributed to imperfections in credit markets. However, these differences could arise for many reasons, such as differences in the characteristics and preferences of owners and firms. The differences in lending patterns by gender may in fact have little or nothing to do with supply side factors or market imperfections. The goal of our paper is to test the hypothesis that differences in financing patterns between female- and male-owned small businesses can be explained by differences in business, credit history, and owner characteristics other than gender. In what follows, we first describe how owner, business, and financing characteristics of female-owned businesses differ from male-owned businesses. We then conduct a multivariate analysis of indicators of credit use and recent lending experiences, modeling each of these as a function of firm, owner, and credit history characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Alicia M. Robb & John D. Wolken, 2002. "Firm, owner, and financing characteristics: differences between female- and male-owned small businesses," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2002-18, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2002-18
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Diego A. B. Marconatto & Gaspar A. Peixoto & Emidio G. Teixeira & Adelar Fochezatto, 2022. "Women on the Front Line: The Growth of SMEs during Crises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-18, August.
    2. Elena Bardasi & Shwetlena Sabarwal & Katherine Terrell, 2011. "How do female entrepreneurs perform? Evidence from three developing regions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 417-441, November.
    3. Reyes Aterido & Mary Hallward-Driemeier, 2011. "Whose business is it anyway?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 443-464, November.
    4. Prince Karakire Guma, 2015. "Business in the urban informal economy: barriers to women's entrepreneurship in Uganda," Journal of African Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 305-321, September.
    5. Sabarwal, Shwetlena & Terrell, Katherine, 2008. "Does gender matter for firm performance ? evidence from Eastern Europe and Central Asia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4705, The World Bank.
    6. Francesco Campanella & Luana Serino, 2019. "Gender and Financial Constraints: An Empirical Investigation in Italy," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(2), pages 109-120, April.
    7. Naranchimeg Mijid & Caroline Elliott, 2015. "Gender differences in Type 1 credit rationing of small businesses in the US," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 1021553-102, December.
    8. Bellucci, Andrea & Borisov, Alexander & Zazzaro, Alberto, 2010. "Does gender matter in bank-firm relationships? Evidence from small business lending," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(12), pages 2968-2984, December.
    9. Christina Constantinidis & Annie Cornet & Simona Asandei, 2006. "Financing of women-owned ventures: The impact of gender and other owner -and firm-related variables," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 133-157, January.
    10. Ying Tang & Chao Deng & Andrea Moro, 2017. "Firm-bank trusting relationship and discouraged borrowers," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 519-541, July.
    11. Monica Zimmerman Treichel & Jonathan A. Scott, 2005. "Women-Owned businesses and access to bank credit: Evidence from three surveys since 1987," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(1), pages 51-67, September.
    12. Christel Corine TCHAPGA, 2021. "Profil du dirigeant et introduction en Bourse au Cameroun," Journal of Academic Finance, RED research unit, university of Gabes, Tunisia, vol. 12(1), pages 80-99, June.
    13. Paola Demartini, 2018. "Innovative Female-Led Startups. Do Women in Business Underperform?," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-15, November.

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