Gender Bond: An Innovative Financial Tool to Reduce Gender Gap

This paper seeks to examine the potential impact of an innovative financial instrument designed for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) led by women on the growth and long-term viability of such businesses. Historically, women-led enterprises have typically maintained a simpler financial approach, primarily relying on internal financial resources such as the entrepreneur’s personal capital and retained earnings, with limited reliance on external debt financing. However, recent developments in sustainable finance have created opportunities to address gender disparities in access to capital. In this context, Gender Bonds (GB) emerge as a promising solution to address this issue while simultaneously addressing contemporary sustainability challenges. The primary goal of this study is to address the following research questions (RQs). The present work is supported by an exploratory descriptive qualitative (EDQ) research. As above, EDQ conducted by document analysis represents the first step in developing grounded theory (GT). This paper aims to expand the literature on the topic of sustainable financial tools for woman enterprises, with a special focus on the gender bond. This study therefore highlights how all those new financial tools, such as gender bond, succeed in improving the economic results of woman companies. It also highlights how the use of gender bond can allow to woman enterprises to improve their financial structure. Also, the present research analyzes the characteristics of the instruments currently on the market by offering a comparative analysis of the similar and dissimilar elements that could be identified. However, ample room is left for future research for more in-depth analysis in light of the future implications, financial and non-financial, which currently cannot yet be analyzed due to the recent application of the instruments.