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Defines discrimination under the law before covering issues such as the glass ceiling and employment at will. Considers the present concerns of increased competition and workforce diversity. Profile some best practices which are being developed by some financial companies before covering new regulations in the securities industry.

This study establishes a baseline for the mortgage industry's beliefs and attitudes about race, culture, and discrimination in mortgage banking and determines if these attitudes vary by race. Through survey research, the data reveals that race matters in the lending arena.

The purpose of this paper is to test whether Australian female and male entrepreneurs differ in their growth aspirations and demand for finance; denial, discouragement and financial constraint rates; and sources of finance.

This paper applies logistic regression techniques to data drawn from a comprehensive survey of Australian small‐ and medium‐sized businesses, which was conducted in 2010.

After controlling for a wide range of firm, owner and risk characteristics, female entrepreneurs are found to have lower growth aspirations than males but do not differ in their demand for business finance. Gender does not influence the probability of reporting denial, discouragement or financial constraint. Females and males do not differ significantly in the types of finance that they use.

The online survey had a low response rate.

First, the paper tests the proposition that gender mediates demand for finance whilst controlling for a wide range of firm, owner and risk variables. Second, the paper tests whether female entrepreneurs are more likely than males to be financially constrained, that is, to have foregone viable investment opportunities due to inadequate access to finance. In doing so, it endeavours to reconcile the financial discrimination and financial constraint literatures. Third, the paper tests whether gender produces its effects in interaction with owners' migration status.

The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on the presence of gender-based discrimination in formal credit markets during the global financial crisis. Specifically, the study tests for gender differences in the probability of being credit-rationed, in the likelihood of being a discouraged borrower and in the price conditions of bank financing.

This paper uses the fifth wave of the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS), which provides detailed micro data on firms from 26 transition economies in Europe and Central Asia. The empirical analysis employs linear and non-linear sample selection regression models and extended Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition techniques to assess gender differences in access to credit.

Controlling for a large set of observable firm characteristics and for endogenous selectivity, we find that female-led firms are more likely to face financing constraints and to be discouraged from applying for credit than their male counterparts. Conditional on having obtained a loan, female-led firms also face significantly higher interest rates. Furthermore, the observed gender gaps are mainly due to unexplained factors, supporting the hypothesis that banks discriminate against women-led firms in their credit-granting decision.

This study provides new insights on gender discrimination in formal credit markets, highlighting that gender differentials in access to credit significantly vary across countries and strongly depend upon the definition of the firm's gender structure. From a policy perspective, the evidence obtained stresses the need for policies aimed at promoting the role of women in the economic environment in order to reduce discrimination and raise competition in credit markets. Moreover, public interventions should support lending to creditworthy female enterprises in order to improve their perceptions about banks' willingness to grant credit and reduce their propensity to be discouraged from applying.

We are undergoing a “subtle revolution” (Smith 1979) in the traditional relationship of women to work and family. One indicator of this change is the massive increase in women's economic activity, especially among married women with children. The total labour force of OECD countries increased by around 30 million in the 1950s and 1960s, and by 43 million in the 1970s. In the first two decades women's contribution to the increase was slightly more than half, whereas in the last decade it amounted to 63.8 per cent. In the European OECD countries women's share of labour force change in the 1970s was even higher and amounted to 96.4 per cent (OECD 1984:10, 11).

The purpose of this paper is to examine if credit rationing persists even in the era of financial liberalization, the extent to which individual, firm and loan characteristics influence the rationing behavior of commercial banks and whether the agricultural sector is discriminated against in the commercial bank credit market.

The study employed a probit model with marginal effects and a generalized Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition estimation on a randomly selected data of 1,239 entrepreneurs from eight commercial banks’ credit records about their individual, firm and loan characteristics.

The study revealed that credit rationing persists and that applying for a relatively longer payment period, providing collateral and guarantor, being illiterate, being relatively older and being in the agricultural sector increases the likelihood of being credit rationed, while having some relationship with the bank, having non-mandatory savings and applying from a bank with relatively high interest rates reduce the likelihood of being credit rationed. The study also revealed a credit gap of 17.77 percent and a positive discrimination against borrowers in the agricultural sector as the gap was largely being influenced by unexplained factors.

The research was intended to cover a large number of commercial banks in Ghana. However, most of the banks were unwilling to provide such information about their borrowers; hence, the research was limited to only eight commercial banks who provided the author with the information needed for the study.

The study concludes that policies that enhance human capital, women, and older access to credit and agricultural-oriented financial services and others, will go a long way to reduce rationing and increase access to credit, especially to the agricultural sector.

The research proposes the use of group lending as a form of collateral and monitoring to ease risks and default, and hence supports sustainable funding to increase access and outreach.

The paper looks at the comprehensive way about the various factors determining credit rationing in that it considers not only the individual, economic/firm and loan characteristics but also the extent to which discrimination toward the agricultural sector exists in the commercial banks credit market.

Explains the importance of assessing country risk to lenders and investors, outlines previous research on techniques for doing this and describes a classification method: the multi‐group hierarchical discrimination method (MHD). Applies this to 1978‐1995 data for 143 countries, subdivided into four income groups, and compares the results with those from multiple discriminant, logit and probit analyses using jackknife procedures. Finds MHD more accurate overall and for most income groups except the lower‐middle income economies. Briefly considers other applications for MHD and avenues for further research.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the influence of women’s land ownership status on their inclusion in developing economies.

The study adopted a cross-sectional analysis. Data were taken from Global Findex data of World Bank and Indices of social development. Data were analysed using limited information maximum likelihood to establish the relationship between usage of basic financial services and women’s land ownership status variables. The study considers different demographic, social and economic factors as control variables. Socio-economic gender equality index and land ownership status of men are considered as instrumental variables in the estimations for controlling endogeneity problem.

The study proves that there is a significant influence of women’s land ownership status on their demand and usage of basic financial services. The results show that women who own land alone have a significant relationship for formal account ownership and formal savings but are deprived of formal and informal credit. The results find that women are more likely to avail of formal credit when they are backed by someone else in the family especially men. Irrespective of the wealth quintile to which women belong, they are deprived of credit if they do not own any land. The findings also show that women in higher wealth quintiles are more active in availing credit.

The study is limited to the extent of influence of women’s land ownership status on their demand for basic financial services.

The study recommends appropriate economic and financial policies to encourage women to own, possess and use their land for personal as well as entrepreneurial activities. The study also suggests for policies to encourage women for joint ownership of land for better credit availability.

Formal institutions must be more favourable for women in providing credit facilities because women play an essential role in economic development in developing economies.

This study is the first of its type in providing empirical evidence that women’s land ownership status influences their demand for basic financial services in developing countries.

As a result of recent social and economic changes women have become an important market segment for financial institutions. Documents the differences which exist in the financial service consumption patterns between men and women. Considers a range of factors which might explain the variations in consumer behaviour namely: the gender schema and financial services; changes in household relations and household form; economic activity rates; sexual discrimination; and the advertising strategies of financial institutions. Finally, considers ways in which financial institutions might market themselves more effectively to women.