Does entrepreneur gender matter in SMEs performance? The role of innovations

Alfonso Expósito, Amparo Sanchis-Llopis and Juan A. Sanchis-Llopis
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Alfonso Expósito: (University of Málaga, Spain). ORCID number: 0000-0002-9248-4879
Amparo Sanchis-Llopis: (University of Valencia and ERICES, Spain). ORCID number: 0000-0002-0872-7859
Juan A. Sanchis-Llopis: (University of Valencia and ERICES, Spain). ORCID number: 0000-0001-9664-4668

No 2308, Working Papers from Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia

Abstract: This study explores whether there are significant differences between female- and male-led businesses in terms of the performance results they obtain from innovating. We use a sample of 1,376 Spanish small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to analyze the impact of entrepreneur gender on business performance considering the mediating effect of innovations, that is, the possibility that gender indirectly influences business performance by affecting the introduction of innovations. Using econometric techniques, we estimate discrete choice models to explore the relationship among gender, innovations and business’ performance. Our analysis is multidimensional in that we consider two types of performance indicators, financial and operational, and three types of innovations: product, process and organisational innovations. Our empirical findings show that, after controlling for other entrepreneurial and business characteristics, menled SMEs are more likely to obtain better performance from their innovations, and in particular, from their higher propensity to introduce process innovations, as compared to women-led SMEs. We extend existing empirical literature in the gender and entrepreneur research fields regarding the role of entrepreneur gender in the innovation-performance relationship, and contribute to the understanding of the role of gender in SMEs performance. Our study suggests the need to incorporate a gender perspective in those policies dealing with enhancing SMEs innovativeness and performance.

Keywords: Gender of entrepreneur; small and medium-enterprises; innovations; financial performance; operational performance; bivariate probit model. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C35 F14 J16 M21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cfn, nep-cse, nep-ent, nep-eur, nep-gen, nep-hrm, nep-lab and nep-sbm
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