Abstract

Pro-social lending platforms like Kiva have revolutionized access to capital for underserved entrepreneurs, particularly women. Yet, subtle biases continue to shape funding outcomes—especially for projects that pursue both financial and environmental goals. This study investigates how environmental framing in loan requests interacts with borrower gender to influence the likelihood and speed of funding on prosocial platforms. Using machine learning based text analysis of over 2, Kiva loan descriptions, we find that environmentally oriented loans are more likely to be funded and get funded faster—but only when led by male entrepreneurs. Female entrepreneurs, in contrast, experience lower funding success and longer delays when they emphasize environmental goals. A post-hoc analysis of loan repayment shows that male-led environmental projects have significantly higher delinquency rates, while female-led green projects perform reliably. An experimental study further reveals that project complexity and perceived entrepreneur competence mediate these funding decisions, exposing a bias in how risk is interpreted across genders. Our findings highlight a “green funding paradox,” where the entrepreneurs best suited for sustainable impact face the greatest barriers. We discuss implications for platform design, policy, and the broader quest to align gender equity with environmental sustainability in digital finance.

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