WOMEN AND CREDIT IN PERU DURING THE GUANO ERA. WAS THERE GENDER DISCRIMINATION IN THE MORTGAGE CREDIT MARKET OF PERU?

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article analyses the role of women and gender discrimination in the mortgage credit market in Peru between 1860 and 1875. Relying on a large sample of notarised loans, the article shows that women participated in the credit market as lenders and borrowers. However, their participation was lower than that of men. In addition, women received smaller loans and paid higher interest rates than men. The evidence suggests that the lower participation of women as borrowers and their smaller loans were largely a consequence of the distribution of collateral. In addition, much of the difference in interest rates resulted from the differences in loan sizes. As women received smaller loans and there were probably fixed costs involved in granting a loan, making a loan to a woman implied a higher average cost.