Gendered Laws, Informal Origins, and Subsequent Performance

This research explores the relationship between laws that discriminate on the basis of gender and the probability that a female-owned business begins operating in the informal sector. This is achieved by tracing the origins of formal businesses sur...

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Main Authors: Hyland, Marie, Islam, Asif
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/852911630421405770/Gendered-Laws-Informal-Origins-and-Subsequent-Performance
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36231
id okr-10986-36231
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-362312021-09-03T05:10:38Z Gendered Laws, Informal Origins, and Subsequent Performance Hyland, Marie Islam, Asif INFORMAL SECTOR GENDER LEGAL DISCRIMINATION LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION FIRM PERFORMANCE ENTREPRENEURSHIP WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS FEMALE-OWNED BUSINESS GENDER DISCRIMINATION DISCRIMINATORY LAW This research explores the relationship between laws that discriminate on the basis of gender and the probability that a female-owned business begins operating in the informal sector. This is achieved by tracing the origins of formal businesses surveyed in the World Bank Enterprise Surveys and merging this with information on the level of legal equality between genders as measured by the Women, Business and the Law database. In addition, the research explores whether starting a business informally has any differential effect on subsequent firm performance depending on the gender of the owner(s). The results show that gender discriminatory laws increase the likelihood that firms with female owners will begin operations in the informal sector; as expected, this does not hold for enterprises that are solely owned by men. Furthermore, the research provides evidence that firms that began operations informally have poorer performance years later—a relationship that exists both for firms with female owners and for firms fully owned by men. The results show notable variation by region. 2021-09-02T18:43:47Z 2021-09-02T18:43:47Z 2021-08 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/852911630421405770/Gendered-Laws-Informal-Origins-and-Subsequent-Performance http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36231 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9766 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic INFORMAL SECTOR
GENDER
LEGAL DISCRIMINATION
LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION
FIRM PERFORMANCE
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
FEMALE-OWNED BUSINESS
GENDER DISCRIMINATION
DISCRIMINATORY LAW
spellingShingle INFORMAL SECTOR
GENDER
LEGAL DISCRIMINATION
LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION
FIRM PERFORMANCE
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS
FEMALE-OWNED BUSINESS
GENDER DISCRIMINATION
DISCRIMINATORY LAW
Hyland, Marie
Islam, Asif
Gendered Laws, Informal Origins, and Subsequent Performance
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9766
description This research explores the relationship between laws that discriminate on the basis of gender and the probability that a female-owned business begins operating in the informal sector. This is achieved by tracing the origins of formal businesses surveyed in the World Bank Enterprise Surveys and merging this with information on the level of legal equality between genders as measured by the Women, Business and the Law database. In addition, the research explores whether starting a business informally has any differential effect on subsequent firm performance depending on the gender of the owner(s). The results show that gender discriminatory laws increase the likelihood that firms with female owners will begin operations in the informal sector; as expected, this does not hold for enterprises that are solely owned by men. Furthermore, the research provides evidence that firms that began operations informally have poorer performance years later—a relationship that exists both for firms with female owners and for firms fully owned by men. The results show notable variation by region.
format Working Paper
author Hyland, Marie
Islam, Asif
author_facet Hyland, Marie
Islam, Asif
author_sort Hyland, Marie
title Gendered Laws, Informal Origins, and Subsequent Performance
title_short Gendered Laws, Informal Origins, and Subsequent Performance
title_full Gendered Laws, Informal Origins, and Subsequent Performance
title_fullStr Gendered Laws, Informal Origins, and Subsequent Performance
title_full_unstemmed Gendered Laws, Informal Origins, and Subsequent Performance
title_sort gendered laws, informal origins, and subsequent performance
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2021
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/852911630421405770/Gendered-Laws-Informal-Origins-and-Subsequent-Performance
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36231
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