Does gender matter for export behavior? Evidence for German companies

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the relation between the gender of firm owners, and employees, and the export behavior of firms in Germany. Design/methodology/approach A new and comprehensive dataset on manufacturing plants and enterprises based on official firm data from the German Federal Statistical Office and the Offices of the Federal States was constructed. Using ordinary least squares, logit and tobit regression, this study investigates the female exporter productivity premium, the export propensity and the export intensity for female-dominated or -owned businesses in Germany. A decomposition analysis across firm size and across sectors was conducted. Findings The analysis shows that female exporters gain a higher productivity premium than male exporters: indeed, female exporters in Germany are on average almost twice as productive as male exporters. Moreover, strong evidence is found that plants are less likely to export when they belong to a female-owned firm or a firm that has a majority share of female employees. When we control for various characteristics, including productivity and further regional and industry-wide influences, this shows that the decision to export depends significantly on gender. The results suggest the existence of barriers that female exporters face to a greater degree than male exporters and that barriers appear to be a result of demand-side driven discrimination. Practical implications Policy implications include the need for improvements to business environments, access to finance and family care facilities and empowerment of women to encourage their participation in international trade and to start an exporting business. Originality/value This study focuses on the role of gender for engagement into international trade, which has been rather unexplored in the research literature so far. It provides first-time evidence for the link between gender, exports and productivity for Germany – as an industrialized country, having a high degree of womens’ rights and gender equality in an international comparison – analyzing the exporter productivity premium, the propensity and intensity to export and effects resulting from discrimination as given by demand-side-driven trade barriers.