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Women at the Top in Developing Countries: Evidence from Firm-Level Data

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  • Sekkat, Khalid

    (Free University of Brussels)

  • Szafarz, Ariane

    (Free University of Brussels)

  • Tojerow, Ilan

    (Université Libre de Bruxelles)

Abstract

This paper uses worldwide firm-level data to scrutinize the governance factors that favor gender diversity in leadership positions. Our results reveal that the gender of the dominant shareholder is key. The chief executive of firms with a female dominant shareholder has a significantly higher probability of being a woman than in other firms. The effect is even more pronounced when the female shareholder holds a higher share of the capital and when the firm is foreign-owned. Our results suggest that "old boys' club" ownership structures are a major impediment to the empowerment of female talent in developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • 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).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9537
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Mario Macis, 2017. "Gender differences in wages and leadership," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 323-323, January.
    2. Giulia La Mattina & Gabriel Picone & Alban Ahoure & Jose Carlos Kimou, 2017. "Female leaders and gender gaps within the firm: Evidence from three sub-Saharan African countries," WIDER Working Paper Series 063, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Khorana, Sangeeta & Webster, Allan, 2023. "Too few women at the top of firms: Foreign ownership, gender segregation and cultural causes," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1276, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Shaista Wasiuzzaman & Vasanthan Subramaniam, 2023. "Board gender diversity and environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure: Is it different for developed and developing nations?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5), pages 2145-2165, September.
    5. Giulia La Mattina & Gabriel Picone & Alban Ahoure & Jose Carlos Kimou, 2017. "Female leaders and gender gaps within the firm: Evidence from three sub-Saharan African countries," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-63, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender; diversity; ownership; leadership; CEO; development;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions
    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis

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