Gender and business performance in Turkey: Evidence from World Bank enterprise survey

In this paper, gender gaps in business performance between women and men shared, owned or led businesses in Turkey are analyzed, using the World Bank Enterprise Survey Data of 2019. We estimate the differences by Ordinary Least Squares regression. The main findings show that women shared and led firms perform better in sales revenue and profits while women owners have significantly worse sales revenue outcomes. In addition, firms led by women tend to grow significantly less than men-led firms. As an indicator of efficiency, value added is used and among our findings we see that while women shared firms are more efficient, there are no gender differences for managers and owners. Part of the reason why women shared firms perform better is that, women sharers concentrate on sectors that are bigger in sales revenue and more efficient. Further, we find women shared firms to be more likely to apply for loans, and no gender differences for managers and owners.