Gender Gap in Personal Bankruptcy Risks: Empirical Evidence from Singapore

Sumit Agarwal; Jia He; Tien Foo Sing; Jian Zhang

doi:10.1093/rof/rfw063

Review of Finance Vol. 22 No. 2 2018

Gender Gap in Personal Bankruptcy Risks: Empirical Evidence from Singapore

Sumit Agarwal¹; Jia He ²; Tien Foo Sing³; Jian Zhang⁴

¹ McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University, · ² School of Finance, Nankai University, · ³ Institute of Real Estate Studies (IRES), National University of Singapore, · ⁴ School of Business, Hong Kong Baptist University

Abstract

Gender gap can arise due to various factors—socio-economic, culture, risk attitudes, and macro-economic circumstances. Using a unique dataset that merges motor vehicle events with bankruptcy outcomes and personal data from Singapore, this study finds significant evidence of a gender gap in personal bankruptcy risk. We show that women’s odds of being involved in bankruptcy events are 28% of those of men after controlling for demographic variables, housing type, cultural and spatial fixed effects. Using motor vehicle accidents as an instrument, we confirm that the gender gap in bankruptcy risk is mainly driven by risk-taking behavior. The heterogeneity analyses show that culture also explains part of the difference. Chinese, Indian, and Malay women have differential bankruptcy rates in Singapore.

DOI: 10.1093/rof/rfw063
Volume: 22
Issue: 2
Pages: 813-847
Language: en
Sources: openalex crossref bibtex:phds-export.bib

Gender Gap in Personal Bankruptcy Risks: Empirical Evidence from Singapore

Abstract

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