Female-Owned Firms in Latin America : Characteristics, Performance, and Obstacles to Growth
This paper examines the characteristics and performance of female-owned firms in Latin America. Data from firm surveys show that female-owned firms tend to be smaller than male-owned firms in terms of employees, sales, costs, and physical capital....
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2009/11/11525121/female-owned-firms-latin-america-characteristics-performance-obstacles-growth http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19961 |
| Summary: | This paper examines the characteristics
and performance of female-owned firms in Latin America. Data
from firm surveys show that female-owned firms tend to be
smaller than male-owned firms in terms of employees, sales,
costs, and physical capital. Female-owned firms also have
lower profits than male-owned firms, but for larger firms
this difference disappears after controlling for labor and
capital inputs. Medium-size and large female-owned firms are
as productive as male-owned firms of the same size, although
micro and small female-owned firms are less productive than
male-owned firms. There is no evidence that the differences
between female and male-owned firms are due to differences
in access to finance or regulatory burdens. However, this
paper finds a negative correlation between child care and
household obligations and female-owned firm size and performance. |
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