30/06/2026 - 12:45 - LECL61

Adeola Oyenubi

(University of the Witwatersand Johannesburg)

will give a presentation on 

Country and firm-level heterogeneity in gender gaps during a crisis: Does pre-existing inequality matter?

Abstract

Nascent literature on individual-level gender gaps reveals that the gap is heterogeneous, such that it is possible to identify individual characteristics associated with very large, as well as very small (or even reversed) gender gaps. This indicates that women are not a homogeneous group when it comes to the gender gap. This study is the first to apply similar logic to gender gaps at the firm level under the hypothesis that women-owned informal firms are not homogeneous regarding gender inequality in labour productivity.
The study is based on the most comprehensive cross-country data on informal enterprises in urban developing contexts. First, using an interaction model, I explore the relationship between pre-COVID-19 pandemic country-level gender-related inequality (measured by the UNDP’s Gender Inequality Index (GII)) and the gender gap in labour productivity during the pandemic. Second, I generalize the interaction model using the Sorted Effects analysis which provides a complete mapping of heterogeneity in firm-level gender productivity gap by ordering the full distribution of the partial effects from largest to smallest.
Results show a robust negative relationship between pre-pandemic GII and productivity during the pandemic. Further, female-owned informal enterprises in less egalitarian (or high GII) countries experienced larger gender gaps than their counterparts in more egalitarian countries. The result also supports the hypothesis of heterogeneity in gender gaps. Specifically, I found that the gender gap is heterogeneous in owner, firm and country-level characteristics. Result suggests that improving gender equity is a prudent way to prepare for economic crisis.

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