Household Matters: Revisiting the Returns to Capital among Female Micro-entrepreneurs
Uses data from trials to show that the gender gap in microenterprise performance is not due to a gap in aptitude
Abstract
Several field experiments find positive returns to grants for male and not female micro-entrepreneurs. But these analyses overlook that female entrepreneurs often reside with a male business owner. Using data from randomized trials in India, SriLanka and Ghana, Bernhardt, Field, Pande, and Rigol (2017) show that the gender gap in microenterprise performance is not due to a gap in aptitude. Instead, low average returns of female-run enterprises reflects the fact that women鈥檚 capital is typically invested into their husband鈥檚 enterprise. Household-level income gains are equivalent regardless of the grant or loan recipient鈥檚 gender.
This research was funded under the Private Enterprise Development in Low Income Countries (PEDL) Programme
Citation
Field, E., Pamde, R., Rigol, N. Household Matters: Returns to Capital among Female Microentrepreneurs. (2017) 20pp
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