Female access to finance: A survey of literature

Abstract

This working paper examines the current academic literature on access to finance for female entrepreneurs and female-led enterprises. It covers two main financing markets: credit and venture capital (VC). The paper finds wide consensus in the academic field that gender-related credit and VC gaps exist in Europe. It also collects some of the most prominent empirical findings with respect to the gender imbalance in the European credit and VC markets during the last decade. This suggests an important role for gender-smart policy interventions at EU-level through the use of both equity and debt financing instruments