More women? More innovation?: Evidence from an international dataset

As women rise through the upper echelons of firms, research interest in the possible performance consequences of higher female representation in leadership has also increased. However, the effect of female leadership on innovation remains unclear. One possible reason is that extant research has been confined to datasets within a single country (i.e., the United States) that usually have limited female representation in top-management teams (TMTs). Using data from the Management, Organization and Innovation (MOI) Survey developed by the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), our study extends the literature by, first, considering more than one country, and, second, including management teams with a broader range of women. Our analysis of the effect of female managers on innovative activities finds that female managers are associated with a higher likelihood of corporate R&D investments (+9.4%) and introductions of new products or services (+29.83%). Furthermore, R&D intensity is positively associated with the presence of women in management teams, while the association of female managers with annual sales of new products is nonlinear.