Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/34869 
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dc.contributor.authorde Mel, Sureshen
dc.contributor.authorMcKenzie, Daviden
dc.contributor.authorWoodruff, Christopheren
dc.date.accessioned2008-10-14-
dc.date.accessioned2010-07-07T11:30:18Z-
dc.date.available2010-07-07T11:30:18Z-
dc.date.issued2008-
dc.identifier.piurn:nbn:de:101:1-2008111452en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10419/34869-
dc.description.abstractIn a recent randomized experiment we found mean returns to capital of between 5 and 6 percent per month in Sri Lankan microenterprises, much higher than market interest rates. But returns were found to be much higher among men than among women, and indeed were not different from zero for women. In this paper, we explore different explanations for the lower returns among female owners. We find no evidence that the gender gap is explained by differences in ability, risk aversion, or entrepreneurial attitudes. Nor do we find that differential access to unpaid family labor or social constraints limiting sales to local areas are important. We do find evidence that women invested the grants differently from men. A smaller share of the smaller grants remained in the female-owned enterprises, and men were more likely to spend the grant on working capital and women on equipment. We also find that the gender gap is largest when we compare male-dominated sectors to female-dominated sectors, although female returns are lower than male returns even for females working in the same industries as men. We then examine the heterogeneity of returns to determine whether any group of businesses owned by women benefit from easing capital constraints. The results suggest there is a large group of high-return male owners and smaller group of poor, high-ability, female owners who might benefit from more access to capital.en
dc.language.isoengen
dc.publisher|aInstitute for the Study of Labor (IZA) |cBonnen
dc.relation.ispartofseries|aIZA Discussion Papers |x3743en
dc.subject.jelO12en
dc.subject.ddc330en
dc.subject.keywordMicroenterprisesen
dc.subject.keywordgenderen
dc.subject.keywordmicrofinanceen
dc.subject.keywordrandomized experimenten
dc.subject.stwKlein- und Mittelunternehmenen
dc.subject.stwMikrofinanzierungen
dc.subject.stwVerschuldungsrestriktionen
dc.subject.stwFrauenen
dc.subject.stwSri Lankaen
dc.titleAre women more credit constrained? Experimental evidence on gender and microenterprise returns-
dc.type|aWorking Paperen
dc.identifier.ppn58179186Xen
dc.rightshttp://www.econstor.eu/dspace/Nutzungsbedingungenen

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