Gender discrimination in access to capital: Experimental evidence from Ethiopian SGBs
Gender discrimination against entrepreneurs, who form the largest sector of the labour force in sub-Saharan Africa, may drive gender gaps in access to capital and subsequently reduce the performance of female-owned businesses. This event examines new research on whether financial providers discriminate against female entrepreneurs, impacting business productivity and overall economic development.
You can listen the audio event recording here:
Access to capital is widely considered a key accelerator for business productivity and growth. Gender discrimination against entrepreneurs, who form the largest sector of the labour force in sub-Saharan Africa, may drive gender gaps in access to capital and subsequently reduce the performance of female-owned businesses. This raises concerns about both gender equity and economic growth. Due to discrimination, capital may not be allocated to the most productive businesses, which would, in turn, reduce economic growth. Using a randomised experiment, Dr. Manian and her co-authors identify whether financial providers discriminate against female entrepreneurs when evaluating their business’ productivity. They then study the implications of discrimination for financial providers’ ability to “pick winners” and successfully allocate capital to the most productive businesses.
The working paper can be found here.
Read more about the 2023-2024 PSDRN event series here.