Female leaders and financial inclusion: Evidence from microfinance institutions

R. Oystein Strøm, Bert D'Espallier and Roy Mersland

No 16-019, Working Papers CEB from ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles

Abstract: This research advances the hypothesis that female leaders – chief executive officers (CEOs), chairs, and directors – of a microfinance institution (MFI) give more priority to the poorest families in loan provision than male leaders do. We differentiate between a depth and a width dimension of financial inclusion. The data set is a unique global panel of MFIs collected from MFI raters’ reports. Our sample is also unique in the sense that about one-third of all MFIs have a female CEO. The problem of endogeneity for the female leader is resolved by running Heckman’s two-step endogenous dummy variable estimation with an instrument for the female leader. We find evidence of greater depth financial inclusion (smaller average loans, more gender bias) with a female leader but not for width financial inclusion (credit client growth). Female leaders exhibit greater altruism and greater competition avoidance but not greater risk aversion than male peers.

Keywords: Female leadership; financial access; microfinance institutions; cross-country panel data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G34 M12 M14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 44 p.
Date: 2016-03-21
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ban, nep-dev and nep-mfd
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Female Leaders and Financial Inclusion: Evidence from Microfinance Institutions (2023)
Working Paper: Female Leaders and Financial Inclusion. Evidence from Microfinance Institutions (2016)
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