Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/271027 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
Kiel Working Paper No. 2242
Publisher: 
Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), Kiel
Abstract: 
While the recent success of Africa's 'Lionesses' - successful female entrepreneurs - is internationally celebrated, less is known about how liquidity can fuel the success of the 'Lionesses' and other businesswomen. Using information from a panel of over 800 male- and female-owned businesses in Ghana (ISSER-IGC survey), we capture a measure of underfunding, in addition to data on supplier credit, equity and other finance sources. Our regressions reveal a female-to-male productivity gap of between -11 to -19 percent, values similar to estimates for other African countries. However, when the relationship between gender and productivity is mediated by financial constraints, the gender performance gap disappears. Accordingly, female business-owners who indicate that funding is not a problem, are associated with higher productivity than males, all things equal. In a finding new to the literature, our regressions reveal the importance of supplier credit for Africa's businesswomen.
Subjects: 
female-owned businesses
liquidity
productivity
supplier credit
Africa
Ghana
JEL: 
D22
J16
L26
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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