Reproducibility package for Sexual Harassment And The Survival Rates Of Women-Owned Firms
Overview
This paper examines sexual harassment and economic outcomes in entrepreneurship. Using a unique panel dataset of 790 women-owned firms in Ethiopia tracked over five years, we relate sexual harassment experienced by business owners to firm performance. First, we document the prevalence of sexual harassment among women business owners. We find over 16% of the women in our sample reported having been harassed in the prior 12 months, including incidences of sexual proposals and inappropriate physical contact. We show that sexual harassment varies by business sector, as well as individual and firm characteristics. Findings suggest that experiencing sexual harassment is negatively
associated with the economic returns of women business owners over time. Women business owners who report having experienced sexual harassment are 37% more likely to close their business five years later, despite initially earning higher profits. Firm closure is associated with lower subsequent earnings, suggestingexit is not driven by better employment opportunities. Our findings suggest that gender-based safety constraints may distort firm dynamics and women’s economic achievement.
Reproducibility Package
| Repository name | URI |
|---|---|
| Reproducible Research Repository (World Bank) | https://reproducibility.worldbank.org |
Reproducibility
Paper exhibits were reproduced on a computer with the following specifications:
• OS: MacOS
• Processor: Apple M4 Pro
• Memory available: 24 GB
Runtime: 5 minutes
To reproduce the findings in this paper, a replicator must:
- Secure access to the data: Once the data is published in the Microdata Library, users can download the data and place it in the appropriate folder. See the Datasets section for more details.
- Run the do-file
run_project.
Since data is not yet included, the package includes the outputs and logs produced by the replicators, which can be used to review the results presented in the paper.
Data
All data is not yet publicly available, but is expected to be made available through the World Bank Microdata Library in the future.
Description
| Author | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Sreelakshmi Papineni | World Bank | spapineni@worldbank.org |
| Solene Delecourt | University of California, Berkeley | solened@berkeley.edu |
| Niklas Buehren | World Bank | nbuehren@worldbank.org |
| Salman Alibhai | World Bank | aalibhai@worldbank.org |
2026-05-05
Scope and coverage
| Location | Code |
|---|---|
| Ethiopia | ETH |
Disclaimer
The materials in the reproducibility packages are distributed as they were prepared by the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this event do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank, the Executive Directors of the World Bank, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the materials included in the reproducibility package.
Access and rights
| Name | URI |
|---|---|
| MIT License | https://opensource.org/license/mit |
| World Bank IGO Rider | https://github.com/worldbank/metadata-editor/blob/main/WB-IGO-RIDER.md |
Contacts
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Sreelakshmi Papineni | World Bank | spapineni@worldbank.org |
| Reproducibility WBG | World Bank | reproducibility@worldbank.org |
Information on metadata
| Name | Abbreviation | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproducibility WBG | DECDI | World Bank - Development Impact Department | Verification and preparation of metadata |
2026-05-05
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