Sex differences in access to a small enterprise development fund in Peru

Abstract

In an attempt to ensure that the direct benefits of an urban small enterprise project were reaching women, the Industrial Bank of Peru undertook a study of the constraints to women's access to a major credit program it had initiated in the squatter settlements ( pueblos jo´venes) of Lima. The study found that the low proportion of women among the program's borrowers was not due to more women being rejected when they applied for loans, but to the fact that few women applied. High collateral requirements and complicated application procedures deterred women from applying. Those women who did apply received smaller loans than men and were concentrated in garment manufacture, services and commerce. Taking these factors into account, the authors make recommendations for ways to enhance women's participation in the credit scheme and similar small enterprise programs in the developing countries.