The Gender Labor Productivity Gap across Informal Firms
This study uncovers a gender labor productivity gap among informal firms in 14 developing economies. The results show that labor productivity is approximately 15.2 percent (or 0.165 log point) lower among women-owned than men-owned informal firms....
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2022
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099726104202220986/IDU0701ff3fb0acb104fbe0ae3d0a6a066260d3f http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37332 |
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okr-10986-373322022-04-23T05:10:38Z The Gender Labor Productivity Gap across Informal Firms Islam, Asif M. Amin, Mohammad WOMEN-OWNED FIRMS PRODUCTIVITY FACTORS INFORMAL FIRM PRODUCTIVITY MEASURE PRODUCTIVITY GENDER GAP GENDER SOCIAL PROTECTIONS EDUCATION INEQUALITY CAPITALIZATION GENDER GAP LABOR DISPARITY CRIME INFORMAL ECONOMY FORMALIZATION OF ECONOMY This study uncovers a gender labor productivity gap among informal firms in 14 developing economies. The results show that labor productivity is approximately 15.2 percent (or 0.165 log point) lower among women-owned than men-owned informal firms. Decomposition techniques reveal several factors that contribute to lower labor productivity of women-owned informal firms relative to men-owned informal firms. These include lower education, lower experience, lower capitalization, and less protection from crime among women owners than men owners of informal firms. However, the smaller size of the women-owned firms and their greater return from producing or selling under contract and from security payments narrows the productivity gap. The results provide several specific and general policy recommendations for improving the labor productivity of women-owned informal firms and closing the gap with male-owned informal firms. For one, a substantial amount of the productivity gap can be closed by providing more resources to women such as education, managerial experience, and physical capital. The study also provides some preliminary results on another important policy objective —the costs and benefits of formalization as perceived by women-owned versus men-owned informal firms. 2022-04-22T14:49:26Z 2022-04-22T14:49:26Z 2022-04 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099726104202220986/IDU0701ff3fb0acb104fbe0ae3d0a6a066260d3f http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37332 English Policy Research Working Paper;10011 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
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Foreign Institution |
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Digital Repositories |
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World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
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World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
WOMEN-OWNED FIRMS PRODUCTIVITY FACTORS INFORMAL FIRM PRODUCTIVITY MEASURE PRODUCTIVITY GENDER GAP GENDER SOCIAL PROTECTIONS EDUCATION INEQUALITY CAPITALIZATION GENDER GAP LABOR DISPARITY CRIME INFORMAL ECONOMY FORMALIZATION OF ECONOMY |
| spellingShingle |
WOMEN-OWNED FIRMS PRODUCTIVITY FACTORS INFORMAL FIRM PRODUCTIVITY MEASURE PRODUCTIVITY GENDER GAP GENDER SOCIAL PROTECTIONS EDUCATION INEQUALITY CAPITALIZATION GENDER GAP LABOR DISPARITY CRIME INFORMAL ECONOMY FORMALIZATION OF ECONOMY Islam, Asif M. Amin, Mohammad The Gender Labor Productivity Gap across Informal Firms |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;10011 |
| description |
This study uncovers a gender labor
productivity gap among informal firms in 14 developing
economies. The results show that labor productivity is
approximately 15.2 percent (or 0.165 log point) lower among
women-owned than men-owned informal firms. Decomposition
techniques reveal several factors that contribute to lower
labor productivity of women-owned informal firms relative to
men-owned informal firms. These include lower education,
lower experience, lower capitalization, and less protection
from crime among women owners than men owners of informal
firms. However, the smaller size of the women-owned firms
and their greater return from producing or selling under
contract and from security payments narrows the productivity
gap. The results provide several specific and general policy
recommendations for improving the labor productivity of
women-owned informal firms and closing the gap with
male-owned informal firms. For one, a substantial amount of
the productivity gap can be closed by providing more
resources to women such as education, managerial experience,
and physical capital. The study also provides some
preliminary results on another important policy objective
—the costs and benefits of formalization as perceived by
women-owned versus men-owned informal firms. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Islam, Asif M. Amin, Mohammad |
| author_facet |
Islam, Asif M. Amin, Mohammad |
| author_sort |
Islam, Asif M. |
| title |
The Gender Labor Productivity Gap across Informal Firms |
| title_short |
The Gender Labor Productivity Gap across Informal Firms |
| title_full |
The Gender Labor Productivity Gap across Informal Firms |
| title_fullStr |
The Gender Labor Productivity Gap across Informal Firms |
| title_full_unstemmed |
The Gender Labor Productivity Gap across Informal Firms |
| title_sort |
gender labor productivity gap across informal firms |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2022 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099726104202220986/IDU0701ff3fb0acb104fbe0ae3d0a6a066260d3f http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37332 |
| _version_ |
1764486968648925184 |