IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/10771.html

The Role of Technology in Reducing the Gender Gap in Productivity

Author

Listed:
  • Cirera, Xavier
  • Cruz, Marcio
  • Soares Martins Neto, Antonio
  • Lee, Kyungmin
  • Nogueira, Caroline

Abstract

This paper explores new firm-level data to examine the gender gap in technology adoption and the associated effect on firm performance. The data show a small difference in technology sophistication between firms managed by women and those managed by men, but there are larger differences in terms of labor productivity. Firms with female top managers are just as likely to adopt the most sophisticated technologies for general business functions that are common across all firms except for enterprise resource planning. However, firms managed by women adopt advanced technologies less frequently for sector-specific business functions. The study also finds that firms with higher technology sophistication tend to have higher productivity and the returns to the use of more sophisticated technologies are larger in businesses managed by women, which helps to narrow the productivity gap between firms managed by women and those managed by men.

Suggested Citation

  • Cirera, Xavier & Cruz, Marcio & Soares Martins Neto, Antonio & Lee, Kyungmin & Nogueira, Caroline, 2024. "The Role of Technology in Reducing the Gender Gap in Productivity," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10771, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10771
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099701005152432429/pdf/IDU-9d64fdd3-7250-4bd1-a04b-ee26fb7aba61.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lashitew, Addisu A., 2023. "When businesses go digital: The role of CEO attributes in technology adoption and utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    2. David Atkin & Azam Chaudhry & Shamyla Chaudry & Amit K. Khandelwal & Eric Verhoogen, 2017. "Organizational Barriers to Technology Adoption: Evidence from Soccer-Ball Producers in Pakistan," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 132(3), pages 1101-1164.
    3. Small, Sarah F. & van der Meulen Rodgers, Yana, 2023. "The gendered effects of investing in physical and social infrastructure," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    4. Harald Dale-Olsen & Pål Schøne & Mette Verner, 2013. "Diversity among Norwegian Boards of Directors: Does a Quota for Women Improve Firm Performance?," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 110-135, October.
    5. Cirera, Xavier & Comin, Diego & Cruz, Marcio & Lee, Kyung Min & Martins-Neto, Antonio, 2023. "Exporting and Technology Adoption in Brazil," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(3-4), pages 334-347, October.
    6. Tesfaye T. Lemma & Tendai Gwatidzo & Mthokozisi Mlilo, 2023. "Gender differences in business performance: evidence from Kenya and South Africa," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 591-614, February.
    7. de Andrés, Pablo & Gimeno, Ricardo & Mateos de Cabo, Ruth, 2021. "The gender gap in bank credit access," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    8. Leora F. Klapper & Simon C. Parker, 2011. "Gender and the Business Environment for New Firm Creation," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 26(2), pages 237-257, August.
    9. Hirpa Tufa, Adane & Alene, Arega D. & Cole, Steven M. & Manda, Julius & Feleke, Shiferaw & Abdoulaye, Tahirou & Chikoye, David & Manyong, Victor, 2022. "Gender differences in technology adoption and agricultural productivity: Evidence from Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    10. Charles Braymen & Kristie Briggs & Jessica Boulware, 2011. "R&D and the Export Decision of New Firms," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 78(1), pages 191-210, July.
    11. Charles Braymen & Kristie Briggs & Jessica Boulware, 2011. "R&D and the Export Decision of New Firms," Southern Economic Journal, Southern Economic Association, vol. 78(1), pages 191-210, July.
    12. Berniell, Inés & Berniell, Lucila & Mata, Dolores de la & Edo, María & Marchionni, Mariana, 2021. "Gender gaps in labor informality: The motherhood effect," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    13. Wu, Qiang & Dbouk, Wassim & Hasan, Iftekhar & Kobeissi, Nada & Zheng, Li, 2021. "Does gender affect innovation? Evidence from female chief technology officers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    14. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Klapper, Leora & Singer, Dorothe, 2013. "Financial inclusion and legal discrimination against women : evidence from developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6416, The World Bank.
    15. Squicciarini, Mara & Juhász, Réka & Voigtländer, Nico, 2020. "Technology Adoption and Productivity Growth: Evidence from Industrialization in France," CEPR Discussion Papers 14970, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Nicholas Bloom & John Van Reenen, 2010. "Why Do Management Practices Differ across Firms and Countries?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(1), pages 203-224, Winter.
    17. Doss, Cheryl R. & Morris, Michael L., 2001. "How does gender affect the adoption of agricultural innovations?: The case of improved maize technology in Ghana," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 27-39, June.
    18. Kausik Chaudhuri & Subash Sasidharan & Rajesh Seethamma Natarajan Raj, 2020. "Gender, small firm ownership, and credit access: some insights from India," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 1165-1181, April.
    19. Wozniak, Gregory D, 1993. "Joint Information Acquisition and New Technology Adoption: Late versus Early Adoption," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 75(3), pages 438-445, August.
    20. Teklewold, Hailemariam & Adam, Rahma I. & Marenya, Paswel, 2020. "What explains the gender differences in the adoption of multiple maize varieties? Empirical evidence from Uganda and Tanzania," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    21. Kamaha Njiwa, Marinette & Atif, Muhammad & Arshad, Muhammad & Mirza, Nawazish, 2023. "The impact of female dominance on business resilience: A technology adoption perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    22. Myeong-Su Yun, 2005. "A Simple Solution to the Identification Problem in Detailed Wage Decompositions," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 43(4), pages 766-772, October.
    23. Nidhiya Menon, 2015. "Gender And Technology Use In Developing Countries: Evidence From Firms In Kenya," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 40(3), pages 105-140, September.
    24. Allison, Lee & Liu, Yu & Murtinu, Samuele & Wei, Zuobao, 2023. "Gender and firm performance around the world: The roles of finance, technology and labor," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    25. Muravyev, Alexander & Talavera, Oleksandr & Schäfer, Dorothea, 2009. "Entrepreneurs' gender and financial constraints: Evidence from international data," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 270-286, June.
    26. Francesco C. Billari & Osea Giuntella & Luca Stella, 2019. "Does broadband Internet affect fertility?," Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 73(3), pages 297-316, September.
    27. Cristian L. Dezsö & David Gaddis Ross, 2012. "Does female representation in top management improve firm performance? A panel data investigation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(9), pages 1072-1089, September.
    28. Fernando, Guy D. & Jain, Shalini Sarin & Tripathy, Arindam, 2020. "This cloud has a silver lining: Gender diversity, managerial ability, and firm performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 484-496.
    29. Ajay Palvia & Emilia Vähämaa & Sami Vähämaa, 2015. "Are Female CEOs and Chairwomen More Conservative and Risk Averse? Evidence from the Banking Industry During the Financial Crisis," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(3), pages 577-594, October.
    30. Luca Flabbi & Mario Macis & Andrea Moro & Fabiano Schivardi, 2019. "Do Female Executives Make a Difference? The Impact of Female Leadership on Gender Gaps and Firm Performance," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 129(622), pages 2390-2423.
    31. Ann Bartel & Casey Ichniowski & Kathryn Shaw, 2007. "How Does Information Technology Affect Productivity? Plant-Level Comparisons of Product Innovation, Process Improvement, and Worker Skills," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(4), pages 1721-1758.
    32. Cirera,Xavier & Comin,Diego Adolfo & Vargas Da Cruz,Marcio Jose & Lee,Kyungmin & Soares Martins Neto,Antonio, 2021. "Firm-Level Technology Adoption in Vietnam," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9567, The World Bank.
    33. Adams, Kweku & Attah-Boakye, Rexford & Yu, Honglan & Johansson, Jeaneth & Njoya, Eric Tchouamou, 2023. "Female board representation and coupled open innovation: Evidence from emerging market multinational enterprises," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    34. Inci, A. Can & Narayanan, M. P. & Seyhun, H. Nejat, 2017. "Gender Differences in Executives’ Access to Information," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(3), pages 991-1016, June.
    35. James H. Love & Stephen Roper & Priit Vahter, 2014. "Learning from openness: The dynamics of breadth in external innovation linkages," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(11), pages 1703-1716, November.
    36. Fang, Sheng & Goh, Chorching & Roberts, Mark & Xu, Lixin Colin & Zeufack, Albert, 2022. "Female entrepreneurs and productivity around the world: Rule of law, network, culture, and gender equality," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    37. Maloney, William F. & Sarrias, Mauricio, 2017. "Convergence to the managerial frontier," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 284-306.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Allison, Lee & Liu, Yu & Murtinu, Samuele & Wei, Zuobao, 2023. "Gender and firm performance around the world: The roles of finance, technology and labor," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    2. Olayinka Oyekola & Olapeju C. Ogunmokun & Martha A. Omolo & Samuel Odewunmi, 2023. "Gender, Legal Origin, and Accounting Disclosure: Evidence from More Than 140,000 Firms," Discussion Papers 2313, University of Exeter, Department of Economics.
    3. Zhang, Dengjun & Wellalage, Nirosha Hewa & Fernandez, Viviana, 2022. "Environmental assurance, gender, and access to finance: Evidence from SMEs," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    4. Grover, Arti & Viollaz, Mariana, 2025. "The Gendered Impact of Social Norms on Financial Access and Capital Misallocation," IZA Discussion Papers 17630, IZA Network @ LISER.
    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. Fernando, Guy D. & Schneible, Richard A. & Zhang, Wei, 2024. "Institutional ownership and women in the top management team," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    7. Gozde Corekcioglu & Marco Francesconi & Astrid Kunze, 2025. "Parental Leave from the Firm’s Perspective," CESifo Working Paper Series 11868, CESifo.
    8. Saibal Ghosh, 2023. "Gender and discouraged borrowers: Evidence from India," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(7), pages 1731-1752, October.
    9. Tchapo Gbandi & Ayira Korem & Kossiwa Zinsou-Klassou, 2024. "Save women entrepreneurs: gender, cultural context, and micro-commerce performance in Togo," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 1099-1133, March.
    10. Uckat, Hannah Irmela, 2023. "Leaning in at Home : Women's Promotions and Intra-household Bargaining in Bangladesh," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10370, The World Bank.
    11. Fernando, Guy D. & Jain, Shalini Sarin & Tripathy, Arindam, 2020. "This cloud has a silver lining: Gender diversity, managerial ability, and firm performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 484-496.
    12. Gómez, Jaime & Krammer, Sorin M.S. & Pérez-Aradros, Beatriz & Salazar, Idana, 2024. "Resilience to the pandemic: The role of female management, multi-unit structure, and business model innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    13. Adem Yavuz Elveren & Hale Kirmizioglu, 2022. "Financial Development and Female Labor Income Share: Evidence from Global Data," World Journal of Applied Economics, WERI-World Economic Research Institute, vol. 8(1), pages 35-49, June.
    14. Abdulla, Eman & Lim, King Yoong & Morris, Diego & Saliba, Faten, 2025. "Climate change and innovation: Exploring the mediating role of gender equality at the firm level," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    15. Liang, Weijuan & Tang, Mu & Wang, Yuanyuan & Ning, Bo & Chen, Jianing, 2025. "Women helping women? Female local official and gender gap in bank credit," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    16. Mahdevi Tiagarassa Pillay & Harshana Kasseeah, 2024. "Does environmental commitment improve access to finance? Evidence from small firms in Mauritius," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(8), pages 7729-7749, December.
    17. Rafael Duarte Lisboa Paschoaleto & Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso, 2026. "The Role of Female Leadership in Firms’ Environmental Performance," Working Papers 2026.02, International Network for Economic Research - INFER.
    18. Saibal Ghosh, 2025. "Rebounding from a Pandemic: Access to Credit, Gender, and Productivity of Indian SMEs," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 68(1), pages 141-161, March.
    19. Maloney, William F. & Sarrias, Mauricio, 2017. "Convergence to the managerial frontier," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 284-306.
    20. Pandey, Rudresh & He, Xian & Zhang, Dengjun, 2024. "Firms' gender composition, loan collateral, and sustainable finance," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D2 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:wbk:wbrwps:10771. 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: Roula I. Yazigi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.html .

    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.