Is Crowdfunding Different? Evidence on the Relation between Gender and Funding Success from a German Peer-to-Peer Lending Platform

Abstract According to the literature on traditional banking, lenders often discriminate against female borrowers. However, studies of peer-to-peer lending in the United States find that female borrowers have better chances of obtaining funds than do males. We provide evidence on the success of female borrowers at a large German peer-to-peer lending platform. Our results show that there is no effect of gender on the individual borrower’s chance to receive funds on this platform, ceteris paribus. Several robustness checks confirm this finding. Hence, female discrimination seems to be eased by the ‘wisdom of the lending crowd’.