Gender and Banking: Are Women Better Loan Officers?

Thorsten Beck, Patrick Behr and Güttler, Andre

No 7409, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: We analyze gender differences associated with loan officer performance. Using a unique data set for a commercial bank in Albania over the period 1996 to 2006, we find that loans screened and monitored by female loan officers show statistically and economically significant lower default rates than loans handled by male loan officers. This effect comes in addition to a lower default rate of female borrowers and cannot be explained by sample selection, overconfidence of male loan officers or experience differences between female and male loan officers. Our results seem to be driven by differences in monitoring, as loan officers of different gender do not seem to screen borrowers differently based on observable borrower characteristics. This suggests that gender indeed matters in banking.

Keywords: Behavioral banking; Gender; Loan default; Loan officers; Monitoring; Screening (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G21 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ban and nep-mfd
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Gender and Banking: Are Women Better Loan Officers? (2013)
Working Paper: Gender and Banking: Are Women Better Loan Officers? (2009)
Working Paper: Gender and Banking: Are Women Better Loan Officers? (2009)
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