Does gender matter for green behaviour? An empirical investigation with cross-country data from the Enterprise Surveys

Research output: Working paperResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Using firm-level data from the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys, the paper investigates, across 8 European and Central Asian countries, the hypothesis that female entrepreneurs are more likely to exhibit green behaviour, by adopting new and more environmentally friendly and/or energy efficient technologies (ecopreneurship). Across several dependent variables, it is shown that women demonstrate a higher propensity to act in such ecopreneurial ways. However, it is a paradox, that for the former socialist country part of the sample, gender has been mainstreamed, in terms of both ownership and management shares (approaching gender equality or neutrality in firms), but this does not have an overall positive impact on greening the technology adoption rates. The study shows that, as gender participation is mainstreamed, or by subjecting traditional female values to male institutions of professional management, so is behaviour.
Original languageEnglish
PublisherRoskilde Universitet
Pages1-67
Number of pages67
ISBN (Print)978-87-7349-357-1
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2023
SeriesSECO Working Paper Series
Number2
Volume2023
ISSN2446-337X

Keywords

  • Technological change
  • Technology adoption
  • Green behaviour
  • Gender and family
  • Comparative economic systems
  • Equity and justice
  • Factor analysis
  • Latent variables
  • Measurement of institutions

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