THE EFFECT OF BUSINESS OWNER DEMOGRAPHICS ON LOAN FORGIVENESS IN A PANDEMIC

Generally, crisis situations entail economic hardship for entrepreneurs and their businesses. As such, historical crisis events may be accompanied by government policy to lessen the adverse effects for business owners and their employees. By analyzing a sample of 139,006 U.S. businesses that received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans of $150,000 or more from the United States Treasury, we empirically show that female, racial and ethnic minority business owners will be at a disadvantage in receiving loan forgiveness relative to their peers. These findings advance the literature by highlighting post funding gender, racial and ethnic disparities in accessing venture resources. Practically, the results highlight how governmental intervention during a historical shock may disproportionately increase constraints on female, racial and ethnic minority business owners.