Does corruption influence the self-restraint attitude of women-led SMEs towards bank lending?

Galli, Emma; Mascia, Danilo Valerio; Rossi, Stefania Patrizia Sonia

Abstract

In this article we address the question of whether the perceived level of corruption in a country may influence women’s inclination in self-refraining from applying for bank loans. Using a sample of 60,058 observations—drawn from the European Central Bank- Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises (ECB-SAFE)—related to small- and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) chartered in 11 Euro-area countries during the period 2009–2014, we first investigate whether female-led businesses are more likely, than male-led ones, to refrain from applying for bank credit. Finally, we assess whether corruption actually matters in the women’s decision not to relying on the bank-lending channel. Our results—robust to various model specifications—highlight that women-led SMEs face a higher probability to self-refrain from applying for loans vis-à-vis their male counterparts. In addition, although corruption appears strongly correlated to the self-restraint attitudes of firms, our empirical analysis reveals that women-led SMEs generally tend to refrain from applying for loans, more than men, regardless of the quality of the surrounding environment.

Citation

Galli, E., Mascia, D. V., & Rossi, S. P. S. (in press). Does corruption influence the self-restraint attitude of women-led SMEs towards bank lending?. CESifo Economic Studies, https://doi.org/10.1093/cesifo/ifx021

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 11, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jan 3, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jan 15, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 4, 2020
• Journal: CESifo Economic Studies
• Print ISSN: 1610-241X
• Electronic ISSN: 1612-7501
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/cesifo/ifx021
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/902812
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/cesifo/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cesifo/ifx021/4782526
• Contract Date: Jan 15, 2018