CEO gender and SMEs innovativeness: evidence for Spanish businesses

Abstract

This paper analyses the role of gender of the chief executive officer (CEO) on the propensity to introduce innovations using a sample of 1405 Spanish small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We examine whether there are significant differences between female- and male-led businesses in terms of their propensity to innovate, and whether these differences may be explained by factors related to the attributes of the CEO concerning risk tolerance, self-confidence, education level and cooperative behaviour. In particular, this study tests if the linkages between these managerial attributes and the propensity to innovate are influenced by the gender of the CEO. Using a multivariate probit model (triprobit), we further investigate the role of gender on the CEO decision to simultaneously introduce product, process and organisational innovations. Our main results indicate that there are not significant differences in the propensity to introduce innovations between male- and female-run businesses when considering innovation at an aggregated level, that is, innovating in any of the three types of innovations considered. However, we obtain a higher propensity of male CEOs to introduce process innovations, as compared to their female counterparts. No significant differences by gender are found for product and organisational innovations. Additionally, results of the multivariate probit model indicate that the three innovation decisions are interdependent and should be jointly analysed. This study contributes to the scant literature regarding gender impact on firm’s innovativeness with novel empirical evidence for SMEs.

Technological Innovation in Colombian Small Firms: A Gender Multi-Group Analysis

“…Regarding the influence of process innovation on product innovation, findings obtained using PLS-SEM show sufficient empirical evidence to demonstrate the significant influence of the process on product innovation in Colombian MSMEs. This is in line with Expósito et al (2021), who found complementarities among process, product, and organisational innovations. In addition, they investigate the role of gender on the CEO's decision to introduce product, process and organisational innovations concurrently.…”

“…As for the influence of process innovation on product innovation when managed by male executives, our findings confirm that gender has a positive influence on product and process innovation, as shown too by Expósito et al (2021) from a survey on the topic of competitiveness of Spanish SMEs and Ruiz-Jiménez et al (2016) in their study with technological SMEs in Spain; our findings also match those of Olson et al (2003), since male enterprise owners tend to have a better business performance than women when it comes to implementing financial measures to innovate. They ratify the positive relationship among process innovation, product innovation, and the capacities of the individuals that manage them.…”

“…They ratify the positive relationship among process innovation, product innovation, and the capacities of the individuals that manage them. Male executives possess characteristics that orient them towards swifter decision-making than women (Díaz- García et al, 2013;Expósito et al, 2021). In the same vein, Mendonça et al (2020) results show that females are less likely to innovate and to decide on more technologyoriented fields of study (Zhang et al, 2021).…”

Founder CEO, CEO Characteristics, and Firm Innovation Efficiency: An Empirical Study of China’s GEM-Listed Companies

“…According to previous studies, we take into account three characteristics of the CEO: gender, education, and CEO duality. CEO gender is a demographic feature, whose relationships with risk-taking and enterprise innovation have received considerable attention [57,58]. CEO education is a cognitive attribute that may affect firms' strategic choices [58].…”

“…Specifically, the similarities and differences between females and males are the result of cultural and social interaction [62]. Expósito et al [57] believe that gender is a socialized construction that affects management concepts, behaviors, and business decisions. Strohmeyer et al [63] find that firms led by female executives have less breadth and depth of innovation than companies led by male executives.…”