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Women Managers and The Gender-Based Gap in Access to Education: Evidence from Firm-Level Data in Developing Countries

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  • Asif Islam
  • Mohammad Amin

Abstract

A number of studies explore the differences in men's and women's labor market participation rates and wages. Some of these differences have been linked to gender disparities in education access and attainment. The present paper contributes to this literature by analyzing the relationship between the proclivity of a firm having a top woman manager and access to education among women relative to men in the country. The study combines the literature on women's careers in management, which has mostly focused on developed countries, with the development literature that has emphasized the importance of access to education. Using firm-level data for seventy-three developing countries in 2007--10, the study finds strong evidence that countries with a higher proportion of top women managers also have higher enrollment rates for women relative to men in primary, secondary, and tertiary education.

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  • Asif Islam & Mohammad Amin, 2016. "Women Managers and The Gender-Based Gap in Access to Education: Evidence from Firm-Level Data in Developing Countries," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3), pages 127-153, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:femeco:v:22:y:2016:i:3:p:127-153
    DOI: 10.1080/13545701.2015.1081705
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    1. Mario Macis, 2017. "Gender differences in wages and leadership," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 323-323, January.
    2. Wellalage, Nirosha & Locke, Stuart, 2017. "Access to credit by SMEs in South Asia: do women entrepreneurs face discrimination," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 336-346.
    3. Charles Ackah & Holger Görg & Aoife Hanley & Cecilia Hornok, 2024. "Africa’s businesswomen – underfunded or underperforming?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 1051-1074, March.
    4. Doruk, Ömer Tuğsal & Pastore, Francesco, 2022. "A Tale of Parallel Processes of Gender (In-)Equality: How Big Is the Glass Ceilings for MENA Women?," IZA Discussion Papers 15152, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Victor Motta, 2017. "Are SMEs in the hospitality industry less likely to experience credit constraint than other industries in the service sector? Evidence from Latin America," Tourism Economics, , vol. 23(7), pages 1398-1418, November.
    6. Victor Motta, 2017. "The impact of crime on the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises," Tourism Economics, , vol. 23(5), pages 993-1010, August.
    7. Ristovska, Natasha & Blazheska, Daliborka, 2020. "Enhancing Women’S Engagement In Entrepreneurial Business Activities," UTMS Journal of Economics, University of Tourism and Management, Skopje, Macedonia, vol. 11(2), pages 213-230.

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