Do female managers perform better? Evidence from Italian manufacturing firms

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to test whether the presence of females on boards of directors influences firms productivity. The analysis is conducted on a large sample of Italian manufacturing firms extracted from the Analisi Informatizzata delle Aziende database for the years 2004 and 2012. Our results show that firm productivity is positively influenced by the presence of women managers in both post and pre-crisis periods, revealing that peculiar features of female human capital matter in running manufacturing firms. The productivity differential is found to depend on geographical localization. Female managed firms located in the North-West regions significantly increase the positive firm productivity differential of the geographical area, while firms located in the South and Islands reduce the firm differential productivity gap registered by the area. Further investigation shows that female and mixed managed firms result to be more productive than male only managed firms. In the light of our findings we discuss the importance of policies that provide incentives for female inclusion in leading position of the firms.

Examining resilience: the role of creativity-oriented high-performance work practices and role clarity

“…Finally, it is worthwhile to mention that the results revealed that resilience was higher in females. The findings support Castiglione et al. (2022) who propounded that the presence of female managers positively influenced the firm’s productivity during pre- and post-crisis periods.…”

“…Finally, it is worthwhile to mention that the results revealed that resilience was higher in females. The findings support Castiglione et al (2022) who propounded that the presence of female managers positively influenced the firm's productivity during pre-and post-crisis periods. Similarly, the findings are in line with Vasili c et al (2020) and Cosentino and Paoloni (2021) who showed that female managers contribute significantly toward enhancing the resilience capacity of companies.…”

Women’s Skills and Aptitudes as Drivers of Organizational Resilience: An Italian Case Study

“…Our results show that female managers significantly contribute to the ability of companies to overcome the crisis (Castiglione et al 2020;Vasilić et al 2020).…”

“…The same evidence has emerged in the COVID-19 era (Sultan and Sultan 2020). Otherwise, Castiglione et al (2020) found that a firm's productivity is positively influenced by the presence of women managers in post-and pre-crisis periods, revealing that female human capital is essential to the management of manufacturing companies. Grandy et al (2020) show that structural inequality and the (in)visibility of women's entrepreneurship have been amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…Our results also highlight the decisive contribution of (male-oriented) corporate governance in favoring the growth and autonomy of women in positions of responsibility (Giotopoulos et al 2017). This contribution is evidenced by: (iv) the increasing delegation of roles and responsibilities in managing relationships with institutional stakeholders to women managers; and (v) the recognition of women managers' talents in terms of career progression (Castiglione et al 2020).…”