Title: Gender of top manager and firm innovation performance

Authors: Seda Ekmen-Özçelik; İklim Gedik-Balay

Addresses: Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Esenboğa Merkez Külliyesi, Dumlupınar, 06760 Çubuk, Ankara, Turkey ' Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Esenboğa Merkez Külliyesi, Dumlupınar, 06760 Çubuk, Ankara, Turkey

Abstract: This article examines how the gender of the top manager affects the likelihood of firms to innovate. The descriptive statistics of the study reveal that the presence of women in top managerial positions is still limited worldwide. Female top managers work generally in small-sized, non-exporter and domestic-owned firms. Empirical analyses show that female top managers increase the likelihood of the firms to accomplish product innovations, while they do not have a significant impact on other types of innovation, such as process innovations, having a technology license and having a quality certificate. However, these impacts vary with respect to firm characteristics such as exporter status. For example, female top managers have a higher positive impact on product innovation in exporting firms than in non-exporting firms. This study can be helpful for firms to be more innovative and competitive by reviewing and revising their gender discriminating attitudes towards top manager positions.

Keywords: gender; top manager; innovation; firm; woman; product innovation; process innovation; quality certification; technology license; exporter status.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEBR.2022.124288

International Journal of Economics and Business Research, 2022 Vol.24 No.1/2, pp.116 - 144

Received: 15 Jun 2020
Accepted: 04 Dec 2020
Published online: 21 Jul 2022 *

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