Women at the helm: female leadership, energy efficiency and labor productivity in developing-country firms

Purpose This study aims to examine whether and how female top management (FTMT), proxied by an indicator for a female top manager (FTM), is associated with two operational performance outcomes, energy cost efficiency (EE) and labor productivity (LP), in developing-country firms. Design/methodology/approach The authors use the World Bank Enterprise Surveys (WBES) panel component and harmonized firm identifiers to construct an unbalanced firm-year panel. EE is measured as the log of revenue relative to total energy expenditures, and LP as the log of revenue per worker. The empirical strategy uses within-firm changes in leadership composition to estimate within-firm associations between FTMT and operational outcomes. Findings FTM presence is associated with higher operational performance. Mechanism analyses show directional patterns consistent with lower informal payments, stronger innovation and foreign technology use, more prudent risk-taking and improved external finance. Associations vary across regions and income groups and are moderated by context: the FTM–LP association is weaker under extreme heat and stronger in more democratic settings, while the FTM–EE association is attenuated in more supportive legal environments. Originality/value This study contributes developing-country evidence on operational performance (EE and LP) using within-firm variation from the WBES panel, and it documents empirically salient channel proxies and contextual boundary conditions.