The penalty of work from home: gender gap in productivity of unorganised manufacturing firms in India

ABSTRACT: This study estimates the contribution of gendered social norms in explaining the gender gap in productivity of unorganised manufacturing firms. Restrictions on mobility and burden of household work mean that female firm-owners primarily operate from their household premises. Using data from unorganised firms operating in the manufacturing sector in India, this paper finds gender gap in firm productivity. The Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition at mean show that despite controlling for size of the firm, assets and other conventional factors, the location of a female proprietary firm within the household premises of the owner explains 19% of the observed gender gap in productivity. The RIF decomposition results show that at the different quartiles, this contribution varies from 19 to 36% of the composition effect. The evidence suggests that the persistence of the gender gap in firm productivity is associated with the persistence of gendered social norms.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11187-022-00637-2. Plain English Summary Almost 95% of female owned firms in the unorganised manufacturing sector in India operate from within the household premises, due to prevalent gendered social norms. These norms put the responsibility of unpaid household work solely on women and impose mobility restrictions. This paper examines whether restrictive social norms contribute towards the gender gap in firm productivity. I find that that the location of these firms within the household restricts them from expanding, as well as contribute to prevalent the gender gap in productivity and incomes generated from proprietary firms operating in the unorganised manufacturing sector. Newer policies supporting women’s mobility and paid work that supplement conventional policies to improve entrepreneurship are required. However, as social norms involve coordinated actions and fear of sanction in case of noncompliance, these policies would work effectively if they are targeted towards both genders and entire neighbourhoods.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11187-022-00637-2.

SUBMITTER: Bose S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9116277 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature