Reproducibility package for International Activity And Female Labor Participation: New Evidence For Services Firms In Developing Countries
Overview
Using a cross-section of more than 33,000 services firms in 104 low- and middle-income countries from the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys, this paper examines whether the female labor share premium of international firms relative to non-international firms in manufacturing also holds for services firms. Unlike the manufacturing sector, the study finds a negative relationship between exporting and global value chain (GVC) participation and the female labor share for services firms, while no relationship is found for importing or foreign ownership status, controlling for firm output, productivity, technology intensity, and fixed effects.
The female labor share gap for exporters is larger before Covid-19, while the gap for GVC participants is no longer significant after Covid-19. Controlling for sectoral relative wages between men and women does not change the findings in a smaller sub-sample of economies. Controlling for female top management and ownership reveals a female labor share gap for exporters, GVC participants, and importers. Using an alternative estimator and dataset confirms the female labor share gap in services firms. This may be attributed to the sectoral segregation between women and men, with women tending to pursue work opportunities in less skill- and export-intensive services sectors compared to men.
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: Windows 11 Enterprise
• Processor: INTEL(R) XEON(R) PLATINUM 8562Y+ 2.80 GHz (4 processors)
• Memory available: 32.0 GB
• Software version: Stata 18.0 MP
2 hours runtime
- Secure Access to Data: Access the datasets not included in the package. See subsection Datasets and the README for more details.
- Download and Place Data: Once the data is downloaded, users should place it in the appropriate folder.
- Run the Package: After placing the data in the folder:
- Update the globals in line 15 in "Master" do-file to your folder's location and run the do-file.
Since all the data is not included, the package includes the results produced by replicators. These files can be used to review the results presented in the paper.
Data
Some data is restricted and has not been included in the reproducibility package. For more details, please refer to the README file.
Description
| Author | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Deborah Winkler | World Bank Group | dwinkler2@worldbank.org |
| Luis Aguilar Luna | World Bank Group | laguilar@colmex.mx |
2025-08-26
Scope and coverage
| Location | Code |
|---|---|
| World | WLD |
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 |
|---|---|
| Modified BSD3 | https://opensource.org/license/bsd-3-clause/ |
Contacts
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Deborah Winkler | World Bank Group | dwinkler2@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 |
2025-08-26
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