Women-owned businesses and access to finance in Pakistan: a study of perceptions, experiences and behaviors

Mahnoor Altaf, Karim Ullah and Muhammad Atiq

Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, 2024, vol. 17, issue 3, 632-660

Abstract: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions, experiences and behaviors of women entrepreneurs and industry professionals in raising finance for women-led businesses and associated problems faced by the women entrepreneurs. Design/methodology/approach - This qualitative research adopts a narrative inquiry strategy. In-depth interviews are used to collect data from women entrepreneurs and women industry professionals in Pakistan. NVivo qualitative data analysis software is used to organize, analyze and find insights in the qualitative data. Findings - This research finds that women entrepreneurs struggle to secure financing for their businesses, and most of them have not been successful in obtaining loans from banks. Women entrepreneurs have relied on various sources of funding, including microfinance banks, grants, personal finance and family members. Some of the barriers to finance attainment for women entrepreneurs include sociocultural inhibitions, lack of awareness and limited information dissemination by financial institutions. Women professionals suggest that entrepreneurs should maintain a bank account, have proper documentation and show dedication to their business to improve their chances of obtaining financing. Research limitations/implications - This research provides theoretical contributions and methodological advancements in the study of financial inclusion for women-owned businesses in Pakistan. This research raises awareness about the difficulties women entrepreneurs face when trying to obtain credit from banks and other financial institutions and provides policy recommendations to inform the government about financial inclusion policies and financing policies for women entrepreneurs. Overall, this research contributes to the literature on financial access and access to finance for women-owned businesses in developing countries. Originality/value - Based on the vulnerable group theory and theory of discouraged borrower, this paper has two important theoretical and practical implications. First, the findings of this study reveal that the financial services are indifferent to women, and there is a denial of women being vulnerable in the financial system, hence requiring a major policy shift to not portray women as vulnerable, as they will rationally feel risky and prefer to opt out of the financial system. Second, the findings suggest that the issue of access to finance for women is not in the financial services but in the women's capabilities and awareness. Therefore, a policy shift is suggested from “financial services for women” to “capability and awareness of women” to avail and access the current services.

Keywords: Pakistan; Women entrepreneurs; Financial inclusion; Access; Owned; Business; SDG 5; SDG 10; SDG 8 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:qrfmpp:qrfm-08-2023-0189

DOI: 10.1108/QRFM-08-2023-0189

Access Statistics for this article

Qualitative Research in Financial Markets is currently edited by Prof Bruce Burton

More articles in Qualitative Research in Financial Markets from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().