Female Business Leaders, Business and Cultural Environment, and Productivity around the World
Studies of female business leaders and economic performance are rarely conducted with worldwide observational data, and with considerations on the underlying cultural, institutional, and business environment. This paper uses worldwide, firm-level d...
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/568061591878917892/Female-Business-Leaders-Business-and-Cultural-Environment-and-Productivity-around-the-World http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33905 |
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okr-10986-339052022-09-20T00:12:21Z Female Business Leaders, Business and Cultural Environment, and Productivity around the World Fang, Sheng Goh, Chorching Roberts, Mark Xu, L. Colin Zeufack, Albert GENDER FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZE ENTERPRISE COMPETITION CURRUPTION BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT NETWORKS FIRM PRODUCTIVITY Studies of female business leaders and economic performance are rarely conducted with worldwide observational data, and with considerations on the underlying cultural, institutional, and business environment. This paper uses worldwide, firm-level data from more than 100 countries to study how female-headed firms differ from male-headed firms in productivity level and growth, and whether the female leader performance disparity hinges on the underlying environment. Female-headed firms account for about 11 percent of firms and are more prevalent in countries with better rule of law, gender equality, and stronger individualistic culture. On average, female-headed firms have 9 to 16 percent lower productivity and 1.6 percentage points lower labor productivity growth, compared with male-headed firms. The disadvantage is mainly in manufacturing firms, largely nonexistent in service firms, and present in relatively small firms. Although the female leader performance disadvantage is surprisingly not related to gender equality, it is smaller where there is less emphasis on personal networks (better rule of law, lower trade credit linkages, lower usage of bank credit, and more equalizing internet), less competition, and the culture is more collective. The study does not find that the female leader disadvantage is amplified in corrupt environments. Africa differs significantly in that it features lower female disadvantage, stronger female advantage in services relative to manufacturing, and stronger sensitivity of female business leaders to electricity provision and bank credit access. 2020-06-15T14:13:55Z 2020-06-15T14:13:55Z 2020-06 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/568061591878917892/Female-Business-Leaders-Business-and-Cultural-Environment-and-Productivity-around-the-World http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33905 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9275 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
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Foreign Institution |
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Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
GENDER FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZE ENTERPRISE COMPETITION CURRUPTION BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT NETWORKS FIRM PRODUCTIVITY |
| spellingShingle |
GENDER FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZE ENTERPRISE COMPETITION CURRUPTION BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT NETWORKS FIRM PRODUCTIVITY Fang, Sheng Goh, Chorching Roberts, Mark Xu, L. Colin Zeufack, Albert Female Business Leaders, Business and Cultural Environment, and Productivity around the World |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9275 |
| description |
Studies of female business leaders and
economic performance are rarely conducted with worldwide
observational data, and with considerations on the
underlying cultural, institutional, and business
environment. This paper uses worldwide, firm-level data from
more than 100 countries to study how female-headed firms
differ from male-headed firms in productivity level and
growth, and whether the female leader performance disparity
hinges on the underlying environment. Female-headed firms
account for about 11 percent of firms and are more prevalent
in countries with better rule of law, gender equality, and
stronger individualistic culture. On average, female-headed
firms have 9 to 16 percent lower productivity and 1.6
percentage points lower labor productivity growth, compared
with male-headed firms. The disadvantage is mainly in
manufacturing firms, largely nonexistent in service firms,
and present in relatively small firms. Although the female
leader performance disadvantage is surprisingly not related
to gender equality, it is smaller where there is less
emphasis on personal networks (better rule of law, lower
trade credit linkages, lower usage of bank credit, and more
equalizing internet), less competition, and the culture is
more collective. The study does not find that the female
leader disadvantage is amplified in corrupt environments.
Africa differs significantly in that it features lower
female disadvantage, stronger female advantage in services
relative to manufacturing, and stronger sensitivity of
female business leaders to electricity provision and bank
credit access. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Fang, Sheng Goh, Chorching Roberts, Mark Xu, L. Colin Zeufack, Albert |
| author_facet |
Fang, Sheng Goh, Chorching Roberts, Mark Xu, L. Colin Zeufack, Albert |
| author_sort |
Fang, Sheng |
| title |
Female Business Leaders, Business and Cultural Environment, and Productivity around the World |
| title_short |
Female Business Leaders, Business and Cultural Environment, and Productivity around the World |
| title_full |
Female Business Leaders, Business and Cultural Environment, and Productivity around the World |
| title_fullStr |
Female Business Leaders, Business and Cultural Environment, and Productivity around the World |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Female Business Leaders, Business and Cultural Environment, and Productivity around the World |
| title_sort |
female business leaders, business and cultural environment, and productivity around the world |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2020 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/568061591878917892/Female-Business-Leaders-Business-and-Cultural-Environment-and-Productivity-around-the-World http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33905 |
| _version_ |
1764479767597285376 |