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Top Team Diversity and Business Performance: Latent Class Analysis for Firms and Cities

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  • Nathan, Max

    (University College London)

Abstract

A growing number of studies find linkages between workforce diversity and business performance, but key aspects of this relationship remain unclear. First, within the firm, the role of 'top team' demography on firm outcomes is surprisingly little understood. Second, urban location may amplify firm-level processes, but almost no studies test these firm-area interactions. I deploy English cross-sectional data to explore these issues, using latent class analysis to tackle firm-level heterogeneity. I find evidence of positive links in some firm classes, both linear and non-linear, and suggestive evidence that ethnic top team diversity is amplified in the London city-region.

Suggested Citation

  • Nathan, Max, 2014. "Top Team Diversity and Business Performance: Latent Class Analysis for Firms and Cities," IZA Discussion Papers 8462, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8462
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    firm-level analysis; business performance; diversity; ethnicity; gender; cities;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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