Firm Size and Female Employment

Pubali Chakraborty and Kanika Mahajan

No 103, Working Papers from Ashoka University, Department of Economics

Abstract: Using firm and individual-level data, we provide reduced-form evidence suggesting a positive relationship between relative female employment and firm size. We then use a difference-in-difference strategy exploiting a natural experiment in Indian labor law amendments that raised firm size thresholds for regulatory compliance. We document a resulting 4.2% increase in female worker share in the treated states, along with a 5% and 15% rise in employment and output, respectively. Larger firms providing amenities like maternity benefits, transport, and paid leave, valued more by women, likely drive these results. Our findings suggest that policies promoting firm growth can enhance female employment.

Keywords: Employment; Firm; Size; Gender; labor; laws (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 88
Date: 2023-08-31, Revised 2025-02-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec and nep-dev
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ash:wpaper:103

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