The Labor Productivity Gap between Female and Male-Managed Firms in the Formal Private Sector

Islam, Asif ; Gaddis, Isis ; Palacios-Lopez, Amparo ; Amin, Mohammad

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: LABOR PRODUCTIVITY;    FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS;    ENTREPRENEURSHIP;    WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS;    GENDER;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-8445
RP-ID  :  WPS8445

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This study analyzes gender differencesin labor productivity in the formal private sector, usingdata from 128 mostly developing economies. The resultsreveal a sizable unconditional gap, with labor productivitybeing approximately 11 percent lower among female- thanmale-managed firms. The analyses are based on femalemanagement, which is more strongly associated with laborproductivity than female participation in ownership, whichhas been the focus of most previous studies. Decompositiontechniques reveal several factors that contribute to lowerlabor productivity of female-managed firms relative tomale-managed firms: fewer female- than male-managed firmsprotect themselves from crime and power outages, have theirown websites, and are (co-) owned by foreigners. Inaddition, in the manufacturing sector, female-managed firmsare less capitalized and have lower labor cost thanmale-managed firms.