IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/recsxx/v17y2014i2p213-228.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are There More Female Managers in the Retail Sector? Evidence from Survey Data in Developing Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Mohammad Amin
  • Asif Islam

Abstract

Using firm-level data for 87 developing countries, the paper analyzes how the likelihood of a firm having female vs. male top manager varies across sectors. The service sector is often considered to be more favorable towards women compared with men vis-à-vis the manufacturing sector. While our exploration of the data confirm a significantly higher presence of female managers in services vs. manufacturing, the finding is entirely driven by the retail firms with little contribution from other service sectors such as wholesale, construction and other services. We also find that the greater presence of female managers in the retail sector vs. manufacturing is much higher among the relatively small firms and firms located in the relatively small cities. These findings could serve as useful inputs for the design of optimal policy measures aimed at promoting gender equality in a country.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammad Amin & Asif Islam, 2014. "Are There More Female Managers in the Retail Sector? Evidence from Survey Data in Developing Countries," Journal of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 213-228, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:recsxx:v:17:y:2014:i:2:p:213-228
    DOI: 10.1016/S1514-0326(14)60010-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1016/S1514-0326(14)60010-6
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/S1514-0326(14)60010-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Becker, Gary S, 1985. "Human Capital, Effort, and the Sexual Division of Labor," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(1), pages 33-58, January.
    2. Michelle Petersen Rendall, 2010. "Brain versus brawn: the realization of women's comparative advantage," IEW - Working Papers 491, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich, revised Jun 2017.
    3. Elena Bardasi & Shwetlena Sabarwal & Katherine Terrell, 2011. "How do female entrepreneurs perform? Evidence from three developing regions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 417-441, November.
    4. Puhani, Patrick A., 2012. "The treatment effect, the cross difference, and the interaction term in nonlinear “difference-in-differences” models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 85-87.
    5. Ai, Chunrong & Norton, Edward C., 2003. "Interaction terms in logit and probit models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 123-129, July.
    6. Lombard, Karen V, 2001. "Female Self-Employment and Demand for Flexible, Nonstandard Work Schedules," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(2), pages 214-237, April.
    7. Stephan Klasen & Francesca Lamanna, 2009. "The Impact of Gender Inequality in Education and Employment on Economic Growth: New Evidence for a Panel of Countries," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 91-132.
    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. Hyland,Marie Caitriona & Islam,Asif Mohammed & Muzi,Silvia, 2020. "Firms' Discriminatory Behavior, and Women's Employment in the Democratic Republic of Congo," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9224, The World Bank.
    2. Asif M. Islam & Silvia Muzi, 2022. "Does mobile money enable women-owned businesses to invest? Firm-level evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 1245-1271, October.
    3. Islam,Asif Mohammed & Muzi,Silvia, 2020. "Mobile Money and Investment by Women Businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9338, The World Bank.
    4. Lai Van Vo & Hazel Thu‐Hien Nguyen & Huong Thi Thu Le, 2021. "Do female CEOs make a difference in firm operations? Evidence from Vietnam," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(S1), pages 1489-1516, April.
    5. 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.
    6. Islam, Asif M. & Amin, Mohammad, 2023. "The gender labor productivity gap across informal firms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    7. Jesica Torres & Franklin Maduko & Isis Gaddis & Leonardo Iacovone & Kathleen Beegle, 2023. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Women-Led Businesses," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 38(1), pages 36-72.
    8. Romina Kazandjian & Ms. Lisa L Kolovich & Ms. Kalpana Kochhar & Ms. Monique Newiak, 2016. "Gender Equality and Economic Diversification," IMF Working Papers 2016/140, International Monetary Fund.
    9. Sekkat, Khalid & Szafarz, Ariane & Tojerow, Ilan, 2015. "Women at the Top in Developing Countries: Evidence from Firm-Level Data," IZA Discussion Papers 9537, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Prince Adjei & Sonal Agarwal & Isaac Doku, 2016. "A Sectorial look at Female Firm Ownership in Ghana," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 6(5), pages 131-140, May.
    11. Feng, Cong & Xiang, Kexin, 2023. "Structural power of female executives and retailer profitability: A contingent resource-based perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    12. Pastore, Francesco & Webster, Allan & Hope, Kevin, 2020. "Assessing the Role of Women in Tourism Related Sectors in the Caribbean," IZA Discussion Papers 13486, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Charpin, Agnès & Szafarz, Ariane & Tojerow, Ilan, 2023. "Female corporate owners and female CEOs," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    14. 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.
    15. Franque Grimard, 2019. "The Services Industry and its Potential for Youth and Women Employment in an African Context: A review of the literature," Working Papers idrcdpruservices, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    16. Romina Kazandjian & Lisa Kolovich & Kalpana Kochhar & Monique Newiak, 2019. "Gender Equality and Economic Diversification," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-24, April.

    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. Gulcin Gumus & Tracy Regan, 2007. "Self-Employment and the Role of Health Insurance," Working Papers 0910, University of Miami, Department of Economics.
    2. Gumus, Gulcin & Regan, Tracy L., 2015. "Self-employment and the role of health insurance in the U.S," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 357-374.
    3. Thorsten Konietzko, 2015. "Self-Employed Individuals, Time Use, and Earnings," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 64-83, March.
    4. Nguyen Thang Dao & Julio Dávila & Angela Greulich, 2021. "The education gender gap and the demographic transition in developing countries," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(2), pages 431-474, April.
    5. Stadelmann, David & Portmann, Marco & Eichenberger, Reiner, 2013. "How do Female Preferences Influence Political Decisions by Female and Male Representatives?," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79748, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    6. Velamuri, Malathi, 2009. "Taxes, Health Insurance and Women’s Self-Employment," MPRA Paper 15731, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. David Stadelmann & Benno Torgler, 2012. "Bounded Rationality and Voting Decisions Exploring a 160-Year Period," Working Papers 2012.70, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    8. Ziebarth, Nicolas R. & Karlsson, Martin, 2010. "A natural experiment on sick pay cuts, sickness absence, and labor costs," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(11-12), pages 1108-1122, December.
    9. Maite D. Laméris & Richard Jong-A-Pin & Rasmus Wiese, 2018. "An Experimental Test of the Validity of Survey-Measured Political Ideology," CESifo Working Paper Series 7139, CESifo.
    10. Christopher M. Sullivan & Zachary P. O’Keeffe, 2017. "Evidence that curtailing proactive policing can reduce major crime," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 1(10), pages 730-737, October.
    11. Nicolas R. Ziebarth & Martin Karlsson, 2014. "The Effects Of Expanding The Generosity Of The Statutory Sickness Insurance System," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 208-230, March.
    12. Alisa Tazhitdinova, 2022. "Increasing Hours Worked: Moonlighting Responses to a Large Tax Reform," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 473-500, February.
    13. Anthony Lepinteur, 2021. "The asymmetric experience of gains and losses in job security on health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(9), pages 2217-2229, September.
    14. Barbara Orser & Allan Riding & Julie Weeks, 2019. "The efficacy of gender-based federal procurement policies in the United States," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 491-515, August.
    15. Antón, José-Ignacio & Muñoz de Bustillo, Rafael, 2011. "The impact of the minimum wage on Spanish youth: Evidence from a natural experiment," MPRA Paper 33488, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Stephan Klasen & Janneke Pieters, 2015. "What Explains the Stagnation of Female Labor Force Participation in Urban India?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 29(3), pages 449-478.
    17. Bastian von Beschwitz, 2016. "Cash Windfalls and Acquisitions," International Finance Discussion Papers 1159, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    18. Do, Quy-Toan & Levchenko, Andrei A. & Raddatz, Claudio, 2016. "Comparative advantage, international trade, and fertility," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 48-66.
    19. Moore, Timothy J., 2015. "The employment effects of terminating disability benefits," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 30-43.
    20. Ciani Emanuele & Fisher Paul, 2019. "Dif-in-Dif Estimators of Multiplicative Treatment Effects," Journal of Econometric Methods, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 1-10, January.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:taf:recsxx:v:17:y:2014:i:2:p:213-228. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/recs .

    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.