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The Impact of Gender Diversity on the Performance of Business Teams: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Author Info

Listed author(s):
  • Sander Hoogendoorn

    (University of Amsterdam)

  • Hessel Oosterbeek

    (University of Amsterdam)

  • Mirjam van Praag

    (University of Amsterdam)

Abstract

This discussion paper resulted in an article in Management Science . Volume 59 issue 7, pages 1514-1528. This paper reports on a field experiment conducted to estimate the impact of the share of women in business teams on their performance. Teams consisting of undergraduate students in business studies start up a venture as part of their curriculum. We manipulated the gender composition of teams and assigned students randomly to teams, conditional on their gender. We find that teams with an equal gender mix perform better than male-dominated teams in terms of sales and profits. We explore various mechanisms suggested in the literature to explain this positive effect of gender diversity on performance (including complementarities, learning, monitoring, and conflicts) but find no support for them.

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Paper provided by Tinbergen Institute in its series Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers with number 11-074/3.

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Date of creation: 11 Apr 2011
Date of revision: 01 May 2014
Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20110074
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Keywords: Gender diversity; team performance; entrepreneurship; field experiment; entrepreneurship education; board effectiveness;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
  • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
  • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
  • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups
  • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments

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  1. Renee B. Adams & Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael S. Weisbach, 2010. "The Role of Boards of Directors in Corporate Governance: A Conceptual Framework and Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(1), pages 58-107, March.
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  4. Dean Karlan & Martin Valdivia, 2011. "Teaching Entrepreneurship: Impact of Business Training on Microfinance Clients and Institutions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(2), pages 510-527, May.
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  7. Renée B. Adams & Patricia Funk, 2012. "Beyond the Glass Ceiling: Does Gender Matter?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(2), pages 219-235, February.
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  9. Oosterbeek, Hessel & van Ewijk, Reyn, 2014. "Gender peer effects in university: Evidence from a randomized experiment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 51-63.
  10. Ivanova-Stenzel, Radosveta & Kübler, Dorothea, 2011. "Gender differences in team work and team competition," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 797-808.
  11. Ad de Jong & Ko de Ruyter & Martin Wetzels, 2005. "Antecedents and Consequences of Group Potency: A Study of Self-Managing Service Teams," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(11), pages 1610-1625, November.
  12. Chowdhury, Sanjib, 2005. "Demographic diversity for building an effective entrepreneurial team: is it important?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 727-746, November.
  13. Barton H. Hamilton & Jack A. Nickerson & Hideo Owan, 2003. "Team Incentives and Worker Heterogeneity: An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Teams on Productivity and Participation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(3), pages 465-497, June.
  14. Adams, Renée B. & Ferreira, Daniel, 2009. "Women in the boardroom and their impact on governance and performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 291-309, November.
  15. Jose Apesteguia & Ghazala Azmat & Nagore Iriberri, 2012. "The Impact of Gender Composition on Team Performance and Decision Making: Evidence from the Field," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(1), pages 78-93, January.
  16. Farrell, Kathleen A. & Hersch, Philip L., 2005. "Additions to corporate boards: the effect of gender," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-2), pages 85-106, March.
  17. Parker,Simon C., 2009. "The Economics of Entrepreneurship," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521899604, August.
  18. Amason, Allen C. & Shrader, Rodney C. & Tompson, George H., 2006. "Newness and novelty: Relating top management team composition to new venture performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 125-148, January.
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