Drawing on the gender diversity literature, we examine whether manager-owner gender diversity influences SMEs’ innovation. Using the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS) covering 27 emerging economies, we find that gender diverse manager-owner teams are more innovative than their non-diverse counterparts. Specifically, teams with a male manager and female owner are the most innovative, followed by a female manager and male owner, then male manager and male owner, and female manager and female owner. These new empirical findings not only confirm that gender diversity is good per se but also identifies the type or form of manager-owner gender diversity that boosts innovation. Our results further call for pro-gender diversity policies, particularly in emerging markets where women are still disproportionately underrepresented in business leadership and ownership.

The file attached to this record is the author’s final peer reviewed version. The Publisher’s final version can be found by following the DOI link.

Citation : Machokoto, M., Lemma, T., Dsouli, O., Fakoussa, R., and Igudia, E. (2023) The impact of manager-owner gender diversity on innovation in emerging markets. International Journal of Finance and Economics,

URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2086/22935

Research Institute : Institute for Applied Economics and Social Value (IAESV)

Peer Reviewed : Yes

ISSN : 1076-9307

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School of Accounting, Finance and Economics [736]