Beyond The Norms: Innovation, Productivity, and Gender in Egyptian Firms

This study examines the relationships between gender, research and development (R&D), innovation, and productivity in Egyptian firms, leveraging panel data from 2013, 2016, and 2020. We explore whether female-led firms exhibit differences in productivity and innovation compared to their male-led counterparts. Going beyond most prior investigations, we allow for endogenous selection in innovation by incorporating instrumental variables within generalized structural equation models. Contrary to earlier findings, our results reveal that female-led firms are more likely to invest in R&D and innovate. Moreover, we show that female-led firms are as productive as male-led firms, challenging any notion of lower productivity among female-headed firms. In examining the links between R&D, innovation, and productivity, we determine that innovative and younger firms are more productive. Additionally, factors such as R&D expenditure, younger age, foreign technology adoption, and formal training provision increase the likelihood of innovation. Finally, firms adopting foreign technology and those with access to finance are more likely to invest in R&D.