Are there more female managers in the retail sector? Evidence from survey data in developing countries

Using firm-level data for 87 developing countries, the paper analyzes how the likelihood of a firm having female vs. male top manager varies across sectors. The service sector is often considered to be more favorable towards women compared with men vis-à-vis the manufacturing sector. While our exploration of the data confirm a significantly higher presence of female managers in services vs. manufacturing, the finding is entirely driven by the retail firms with little contribution from other service sectors such as wholesale, construction and other services. We also find that the greater presence of female managers in the retail sector vs. manufacturing is much higher among the relatively small firms and firms located in the relatively small cities. These findings could serve as useful inputs for the design of optimal policy measures aimed at promoting gender equality in a country.