It’S Getting Crowded in Here

Experimental Evidence of Demand Constraints in the Gender Profit Gap

Bibliographic Data

ID9720135
AuthorsMorgan Hardy (0000-0002-3661-0834, New York University Abu Dhabi), Gisella Kagy (Vassar College, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume130
Issue631
Pages2272-2290
Publication date2020-10-16
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Economic Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-0133 • E-ISSN: 1468-0297
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/ej/ueaa040
OpenAlexW3036548033
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited22

This article considers market-level contributors to the well-documented gender profit gap among micro-entrepreneurs. We combine data from a garment-making firm census and market research survey in Ghana, uncovering a gender gap in the market-size-to-firm ratio and observing disproportionate self-reports of ‘not enough customers’ from female owners. We develop a simple model and discuss implications of potential gender differences in demand constraints. As experimental corroboration, we show that female-owned firms expand production and experience profit increases in response to random demand shocks, while male-owned firms do not. Nationally representative data echoes our experimental findings, showing more crowding in female-dominated industries

Business · Census · Classical economics · Crowding · Crowding out · Demographic economics · Economics · For profit · Gender gap · Labour economics · Microeconomics · Monetary economics · Profit (economics · Sociology · Survey data collection · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Marketing · Microfinance and Financial Inclusion · Psychology · Taxation and Compliance Studies

Tools

Open DOI