The experience of small firm owners in Ghana during the COVID-19 pandemic: A gender-based analysis

We document differences in the experiences of firms and firm owners by gender during the early COVID-19 crisis in Ghana. Female-owned firms are more likely to close during the Spring of 2020, but equally likely to be open by July 2020. However, longer-term closure is predicted by different characteristics for male- and female-owned firms. Female-owned firms that experience longer-term closure (during our window of observation) are those with low pre-pandemic sales. Male-owned firms that experience longer-term closure (during our window of observation) are those whose owners had other income generating opportunities before the pandemic. Accordingly, women whose firms close experience large drops in income from all sources, while men whose firms close are able to compensate for losses in their core business with income from other sources.