THE GENDER SIDE OF LENDING: ARE FEMALES BETTER BORROWERS

Abstract

The study employs binary logistic regression analysis to investigate the gender side of lending using cross-sectional data from 198 credit unions collected from the Credit Union Association (CUA) of Ghana. Contrary to anecdotal and empirical evidence in the literature, evidence adduced in this paper underpins the conclusion that female borrowers are not better than their male counterparts. Consequently, the paper contends that lenders in Ghana should not expect any improvement in their loan repayment performance if they lend more to females. Instead, lenders who contemplate better repayment performance should strengthen their management and integrate group lending into their lending operations.