Women and Repayment in Microfinance: A Global Analysis

This paper uses a global data set of 350 microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 70 countries to study the common belief that women are generally better credit risks in microfinance than men. The results confirm that a higher percentage of female clients in MFIs is associated with lower portfolio risk,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:World development 2011-05, Vol.39 (5), p.758-772
Main Authors: D’Espallier, Bert, Guérin, Isabelle, Mersland, Roy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Credit
Credit risk
Credit systems
Debt management
Females
Financial institutions
Financial risks
Gender
Humanities and Social Sciences
Manycountries
Men
Microfinance
microfinance gender women repayment portfolio at risk write-offs
Nongovernmental Organizations
Payments
Portfolio analysis
portfolio at risk
repayment
Repayments
Risk
Studies
Women
write-offs
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Summary:This paper uses a global data set of 350 microfinance institutions (MFIs) in 70 countries to study the common belief that women are generally better credit risks in microfinance than men. The results confirm that a higher percentage of female clients in MFIs is associated with lower portfolio risk, fewer write-offs, and fewer provisions, all else being equal. Interaction effects reveal that, while focus on women is generally associated with enhanced repayment, this trend is stronger for nongovernmental organizations, individual-based lenders, and regulated MFIs.
ISSN:0305-750X
1873-5991
DOI:10.1016/j.worlddev.2010.10.008