The Gender Gap in International Trade: Female-run Firms and the Exporter Productivity Premium

Abstract

Female-run firms are less likely to be exporters although they exert positive influence in various aspects in an economy and society. With a new and comprehensive data set on manufacturing plants, I investigate the exporter productivity premium of female-run firms in Germany. The results show that female-run firms gain a higher exporter-productivity premium than male-run firms. I find evidence for selection into exporting but no impact for learning from exporting for female-run exporting firms. These results give hint to discrimination barriers that female-run firms face when they are exporting as compared to male-run firm exporters.