The Business and Management Review, Volume 10, Number 1 November 2018 Conference proceedings of the Academy of Business and Retail Management (ABRM) 126 Gender differences in non-farm micro and small enterprise financial performance in Ghana Sylvester Nsobire Ayambila Department of Agribusiness Management and Finance University for Development Studies, Ghana Key Words Enterprise, financial, Gender, Ghana, performance, risk, Sharpe ratio. Abstract The study compared the financial performance of male-owned and female-owned micro and small enterprises in Ghana and tested the female-underperformance hypothesis. The results are drawn from a comprehensive survey data obtained from the Economic Growth Centre (EGC) and the Institute for Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) Socio-Economic Panel Survey in Ghana. The data covered 5009 households with a total of 18,889 individuals. Most literature generally agree that female-owned enterprises underperformed male ones but most often than not, no appropriate methods have been employed to empirically test these assertions. Literature suggests that the stereotype of underperformance attributed to female management may not be the result so much of poorer management skills as to using unsuitable comparative performance measures. Most studies did not consider risk in comparing performance across gender. This study adjusted for risks in analyzing enterprise performance using the reward-to- variability ratio. The study found that when risks are not adjusted for, female-owned enterprises underperformed male-owned ones but when risks were adjusted for, female-owned enterprises performed no differently from male-owned ones. This is consistent with social feminism theory, which argues that men and women are inherently different by nature and these differences will cause them to operate their ventures differently. The results from the Sharpe Ratio indicate that male-owned enterprises had a higher Sharpe ratio (0.473) as compared to female-owned (0.399). The lower Sharpe Ratio for female-owned enterprises suggests that females are more risk averse as compared to males. The findings indicate that females are not necessarily discriminated against, but that females prefer to take fewer risks as compared to males. The recommendation is for a rethinking and reconstruction of the mindset regarding female- underperformance hypothesis. What is required is dispelling risk perception among female-owned entrepreneurs and encouraging capacity building for female-owned entrepreneurs in risks management. Acknowledgments I acknowledge the Economic Growth Centre (EGC) and the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) for providing data for the study. 1. Introduction 1.1 Micro and Small Enterprise and Socio-economic Development Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) play a crucial role in the socio-economic development of many countries over the world especially in developing countries. MSEs have contributed to the socio- economic development in both industrialised and developing countries (Carree & Thurik, 2008; Nichter & Goldmark, 2009). In developing countries, the bulk of micro and small enterprises are in the informal sector (Maloney, 2003; Nichter & Goldmark, 2009; Roy & Wheeler, 2006), and are the major sources of employment and income, especially for the poorest members of society (Mead & Liedholm, 1998). Agriculture and the non-farm are linked and supporting each other to grow. The extra income from agricultural growth can create demand for goods and services from non-farm sector, thus starting