Working Paper: Female business owners pay higher interest rates on corporate loans
Working Paper - June 2021 - No. 179

Female owners of small and medium-sized enterprises, on average, pay almost 1 percent higher interest rates than male owners. Firm and loan characteristics explain most of this difference. Nonetheless, a 26 basis point gap cannot be explained, suggesting that female business owners tend to leave a disproportionate share of money on the table during negotiations with credit institutions.