The Role of Gender in Innovation: Micro Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia

This study examines the relationship between the representation of women at various hierarchical levels and innovation using firm-level data from Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The findings suggest a positive association between the presence of at least one woman among the owners and a firm’s probability of introducing a new product. Additionally, supporting evidence is found for the impact of having a woman top manager on product innovation. The evidence regarding the role of gender on process innovation is restricted to specific country groups. Increasing the share of women employees positively affects both product and process innovation.