The penalty of work from home: gender gap in productivity of unorganised manufacturing firms in India

Saheli Bose ()
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Saheli Bose: Centre for Training and Research in Public Finance and Policy, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences

Small Business Economics, 2023, vol. 60, issue 1, No 16, 369 pages

Abstract: Abstract This study estimates the contribution of gendered social norms in explaining the gender gap in productivity of unorganised manufacturing firms. Restrictions on mobility and burden of household work mean that female firm-owners primarily operate from their household premises. Using data from unorganised firms operating in the manufacturing sector in India, this paper finds gender gap in firm productivity. The Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition at mean show that despite controlling for size of the firm, assets and other conventional factors, the location of a female proprietary firm within the household premises of the owner explains 19% of the observed gender gap in productivity. The RIF decomposition results show that at the different quartiles, this contribution varies from 19 to 36% of the composition effect. The evidence suggests that the persistence of the gender gap in firm productivity is associated with the persistence of gendered social norms.

Keywords: Gender-gap; Firm productivity; Social norms; Unorganised sector; India; Decomposition method (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J31 J71 L26 O15 O17 O53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11187-022-00637-2

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