IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i7p1992-d219737.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Gender Effect on a Firm’s Innovative Activities in the Emerging Economies

Author

Listed:
  • Kyunga Na

    (Department of Accounting and Taxation, Keimyung University, Euiyang Hall 327, 1095, Dalgubeol-daero, Dalseo-gu, Daegu 41566, Korea)

  • Kwangsoo Shin

    (Department of Bio-Medical Convergence, College of Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Chungdae-ro 1, Seowon-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk 28644, Korea)

Abstract

This study examines the impact of gender at three different positions in a firm’s hierarchy on innovative activities, looking at over 6474 firms in 30 emerging countries. We create a dummy variable for each of the six survey questions on product innovation, process innovation, organizational innovation, marketing innovation, and R&D (Research & Development) spending. Each dummy acts as a dependent variable in a separate logit regression, and the sum of the dummies acts as the dependent variable in another ordered logit regression. We use the female ownership percentage, female top management, and female majority in the workforce as test variables. We use the Heckman two-stage model to address endogeneity concerns with gender. We find that the female ownership percentage is generally positively related to individual innovation measures as well as the composite measure, while female top management is positively associated with marketing innovation only, and a female majority in the workforce is not significantly related to any measure. The results suggest that promoting innovation in emerging countries would involve governments encouraging further market participation by women and supporting female CEOs (Chief Executive Officers) to innovate, and firms fostering innovation among female workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Kyunga Na & Kwangsoo Shin, 2019. "The Gender Effect on a Firm’s Innovative Activities in the Emerging Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-24, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:7:p:1992-:d:219737
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/7/1992/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/7/1992/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brooklyn Cole & Manjula Salimath, 2013. "Diversity Identity Management: An Organizational Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 151-161, August.
    2. Dwyer, Peggy D. & Gilkeson, James H. & List, John A., 2002. "Gender differences in revealed risk taking: evidence from mutual fund investors," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 151-158, July.
    3. Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Jan Svejnar & Katherine Terrell, 2010. "Globalization and Innovation in Emerging Markets," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 194-226, April.
    4. Jenny María Ruiz-Jiménez & María del Mar Fuentes-Fuentes & Matilde Ruiz-Arroyo, 2016. "Knowledge Combination Capability and Innovation: The Effects of Gender Diversity on Top Management Teams in Technology-Based Firms," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(3), pages 503-515, May.
    5. Fabrice Galia & Emmanuel Zenou & Marc Ingham, 2015. "Board composition and environmental innovation: does gender diversity matter?," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 24(1), pages 117-141.
    6. Lee, Hun Whee & Choi, Jin Nam & Kim, Seongsu, 2018. "Does gender diversity help teams constructively manage status conflict? An evolutionary perspective of status conflict, team psychological safety, and team creativity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 187-199.
    7. Naci Mocan, 2008. "What Determines Corruption? International Evidence From Microdata," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 46(4), pages 493-510, October.
    8. Frank Crowley & Jane Bourke, 2018. "The Influence Of The Manager On Firm Innovation In Emerging Economies," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 22(03), pages 1-21, April.
    9. Romer, Paul M, 1990. "Endogenous Technological Change," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 71-102, October.
    10. Thomas Schøtt & Maryam Cheraghi, 2015. "Gendering pursuits of innovation: embeddedness in networks and culture," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 24(1), pages 83-116.
    11. Ishtiaq P. Mahmood & Will Mitchell, 2004. "Two Faces: Effects of Business Groups on Innovation in Emerging Economies," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(10), pages 1348-1365, October.
    12. Eckel, Catherine C & Grossman, Philip J, 1998. "Are Women Less Selfish Than Men? Evidence from Dictator Experiments," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(448), pages 726-735, May.
    13. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    14. Cristian L. Dezsö & David Gaddis Ross, 2012. "Does female representation in top management improve firm performance? A panel data investigation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(9), pages 1072-1089, September.
    15. Daunfeldt, Sven-Olov & Rudholm, Niklas, 2012. "Does Gender Diversity in the Boardroom Improve Firm Performance?," HUI Working Papers 60, HUI Research.
    16. Slavo Radosevic & Marat Myrzakhmet, 2006. "Between vision and reality: promoting innovation through technoparks in Kazakhstan," UCL SSEES Economics and Business working paper series 66, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES).
    17. Jha, Chandan Kumar & Sarangi, Sudipta, 2018. "Women and corruption: What positions must they hold to make a difference?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 219-233.
    18. Hee‐Jae Cho & Vladimir Pucik, 2005. "Relationship between innovativeness, quality, growth, profitability, and market value," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(6), pages 555-575, June.
    19. Meghana Ayyagari & Asli Demirguc-Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2014. "Who creates jobs in developing countries?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 75-99, June.
    20. Mathias Wullum Nielsen & Carter Walter Bloch & Londa Schiebinger, 2018. "Making gender diversity work for scientific discovery and innovation," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 2(10), pages 726-734, October.
    21. Sara Poggesi & Michela Mari & Luisa Vita, 2016. "What’s new in female entrepreneurship research? Answers from the literature," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 735-764, September.
    22. Whittington, Kjersten Bunker, 2018. "“A tie is a tie? Gender and network positioning in life science inventor collaboration”," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 511-526.
    23. repec:cup:jfinqa:v:46:y:2011:i:06:p:1545-1580_00 is not listed on IDEAS
    24. Zucker, Lynne G & Darby, Michael R, 2001. "Capturing Technological Opportunity via Japan's Star Scientists: Evidence from Japanese Firms' Biotech Patents and Products," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 26(1-2), pages 37-58, January.
    25. Wang, Chengqi & Kafouros, Mario I., 2009. "What factors determine innovation performance in emerging economies? Evidence from China," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 606-616, December.
    26. Urvi Neelakantan, 2010. "Estimation And Impact Of Gender Differences In Risk Tolerance," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 48(1), pages 228-233, January.
    27. Jens Horbach & Jojo Jacob, 2018. "The relevance of personal characteristics and gender diversity for (eco‐)innovation activities at the firm‐level: Results from a linked employer–employee database in Germany," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 924-934, November.
    28. Spyros Arvanitis & Tobias Stucki, 2012. "What determines the innovation capability of firm founders?," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 21(4), pages 1049-1084, August.
    29. Torchia, Mariateresa & Calabrò, Andrea & Gabaldon, Patricia & Kanadli, Sadi Bogac, 2018. "Women directors contribution to organizational innovation: A behavioral approach," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 215-224.
    30. Perryman, Alexa A. & Fernando, Guy D. & Tripathy, Arindam, 2016. "Do gender differences persist? An examination of gender diversity on firm performance, risk, and executive compensation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 579-586.
    31. Brad M. Barber & Terrance Odean, 2001. "Boys will be Boys: Gender, Overconfidence, and Common Stock Investment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(1), pages 261-292.
    32. Roger Schroeder & Andrew Van de Ven & Gary Scudder & Douglas Polley, 1986. "Managing innovation and change processes: Findings from the Minnesota innovation research program," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 2(4), pages 501-523.
    33. Nuria Reguera-Alvarado & Pilar Fuentes & Joaquina Laffarga, 2017. "Does Board Gender Diversity Influence Financial Performance? Evidence from Spain," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(2), pages 337-350, March.
    34. Mihaela Ionascu & Ion Ionascu & Marian Sacarin & Mihaela Minu, 2018. "Women on Boards and Financial Performance: Evidence from a European Emerging Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-18, May.
    35. Sea-Jin Chang & Chi-Nien Chung & Ishtiaq P. Mahmood, 2006. "When and How Does Business Group Affiliation Promote Firm Innovation? A Tale of Two Emerging Economies," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(5), pages 637-656, October.
    36. Dendi Ramdani & Arjen Witteloostuijn, 2012. "The Shareholder–Manager Relationship and Its Impact on the Likelihood of Firm Bribery," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 108(4), pages 495-507, July.
    37. Chen, Jie & Leung, Woon Sau & Evans, Kevin P., 2018. "Female board representation, corporate innovation and firm performance," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 236-254.
    38. Srinivas, Smita & Sutz, Judith, 2008. "Developing countries and innovation: Searching for a new analytical approach," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 129-140.
    39. Horbach, Jens & Jacob, Jojo, 2017. "The relevance of personal characteristics and gender diversity for (eco)-innovation activities at the firm-level : Results from a linked employer-employee database in Germany," IAB-Discussion Paper 201711, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    40. Huang, Jiekun & Kisgen, Darren J., 2013. "Gender and corporate finance: Are male executives overconfident relative to female executives?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(3), pages 822-839.
    41. Faccio, Mara & Marchica, Maria-Teresa & Mura, Roberto, 2016. "CEO gender, corporate risk-taking, and the efficiency of capital allocation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 193-209.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Michael Machokoto & Tesfaye T. Lemma & Ouarda Dsouli & Rebecca Fakoussa & Eghosa Igudia, 2024. "Coupling men‐to‐women: Promoting innovation in emerging markets," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(3), pages 3656-3677, July.
    2. Azeem, Muhammad Masood & Sheridan, Alison & Adapa, Sujana, 2022. "Women to women: Enabling innovation and firm performance in developing countries," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PA).
    3. Imran Hussain Shah & Konstantinos Kollydas & Pak Yee Lee & Issam Malki & Crystal Chu, 2024. "Does R&D investment drive employment growth? Empirical evidence at industry level from Japan," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(1), pages 102-118, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kyunga Na & Young-Hee Kang & Yang Sok Kim, 2018. "The Effect of Corporate Governance on the Corruption of Firms in BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India & China)," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-16, May.
    2. Hanousek, Jan & Shamshur, Anastasiya & Tresl, Jiri, 2019. "Firm efficiency, foreign ownership and CEO gender in corrupt environments," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 344-360.
    3. Doan, Trang & Iskandar-Datta, Mai, 2020. "Are female top executives more risk-averse or more ethical? Evidence from corporate cash holdings policy," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 161-176.
    4. Liliana Nicoleta Simionescu & Ştefan Cristian Gherghina & Hiba Tawil & Ziad Sheikha, 2021. "Does board gender diversity affect firm performance? Empirical evidence from Standard & Poor’s 500 Information Technology Sector," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 1-45, December.
    5. Pedro Manuel Nogueira Reis & António Pedro Soares Pinto, 2022. "How Do Banking Characteristics Influence Companies’ Debt Features and Performance during COVID-19? A Study of Portuguese Firms," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-29, October.
    6. Sah, Nilesh B. & Adhikari, Hari P. & Krolikowski, Marcin W. & Malm, James & Nguyen, Thanh T., 2022. "CEO gender and risk aversion: Further evidence using the composition of firm’s cash," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C).
    7. Nguyen, Thi Hong Hanh & Ntim, Collins G. & Malagila, John K., 2020. "Women on corporate boards and corporate financial and non-financial performance: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    8. Young Zik Shin & Jeung-Yoon Chang & Kyeongmin Jeon & Hyunpyo Kim, 2020. "Female directors on the board and investment efficiency: evidence from Korea," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(4), pages 438-479, September.
    9. Palvia, Ajay & Vähämaa, Emilia & Vähämaa, Sami, 2020. "Female leadership and bank risk-taking: Evidence from the effects of real estate shocks on bank lending performance and default risk," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 897-909.
    10. Chen, Xiao & Huang, Bihong & Ye, Dezhu, 2019. "The Gender Gap in Peer-to-Peer Lending: Evidence from the People’s Republic of China," ADBI Working Papers 977, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    11. Lee, Jangwook & Chung, Jiyoon, 2022. "Women in top management teams and their impact on innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    12. Chen, Xiao & Huang, Bihong & Ye, Dezhu, 2020. "Gender gap in peer-to-peer lending: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    13. Guanping Zhou, 2019. "Financial distress prevention in China: Does gender of board of directors matter?," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 9(6), pages 1-8.
    14. Datta, Sudip & Doan, Trang & Toscano, Francesca, 2023. "Top executive gender, corporate culture, and the value of corporate cash holdings," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    15. Wang, Qi & Xiong, Xiong & Yang, Zhuoyi & An, Yahui & Feng, Xu, 2024. "Attention of women's liberation and investor herding behavior," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 520-544.
    16. Rigolini, Alessandra & Gabaldon, Patricia & Le Bruyn Goldeng, Eskil, 2021. "CEO succession with gender change in troubled companies: The effect of a new woman CEO on firm risk and firm risk perceived," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 37(1).
    17. Yaghoubi, Mona, 2024. "Executive characteristics as moderators: Exploring the impact of geopolitical risk on capital structure decisions," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    18. García Lara, Juan Manuel & García Osma, Beatriz & Mora, Araceli & Scapin, Mariano, 2017. "The monitoring role of female directors over accounting quality," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 651-668.
    19. Ajay Palvia & Emilia Vähämaa & Sami Vähämaa, 2015. "Are Female CEOs and Chairwomen More Conservative and Risk Averse? Evidence from the Banking Industry During the Financial Crisis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(3), pages 577-594, October.
    20. Tonoyan, Vartuhi & Boudreaux, Christopher J., 2023. "Gender diversity in firm ownership: Direct and indirect effects on firm-level innovation across 29 emerging economies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(4).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:7:p:1992-:d:219737. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.