Gender, firm performance, and FDI supply–purchase spillovers in emerging markets

The paper measures the gender premium (or penalty) in productivity and innovation of firms in 32 emerging economies. We estimate whether the gender status of firms’ ownership in FDI recipient countries matters for the size of knowledge spillovers from linkages between local firms and Multinational Enterprises (MNEs). Furthermore, we explore whether the gender ownership structure of MNEs is also vital for spillovers between MNEs and local firms. Our results show that female-owned firms (both local and MNEs) are on average less productive and innovative. Although domestic firms benefit from supplying inputs to MNEs in terms of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) and innovation, a gender handicap cancels out these gains potentially. Female gendered MNEs also impose a similar penalty on knowledge spillovers. As a policy implication, the paper highlights the importance of mitigating gender discrimination for improving productivity and absorptive capacity of local firms in the emerging world.