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http://dx.doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2021.vol8.no6.0169

Gender and Innovation in Southeast Asia: The Moderating Role of Absorptive Capacity  

DOAN, Thi Ngoc Thuy (Program in Business and Management, College of Business, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology)
CHANG, Chia-Hua (Department of Industrial Management and Information, College of Business, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology)
Publication Information
The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business / v.8, no.6, 2021 , pp. 169-177 More about this Journal
Abstract
This study examines how female managers or owners impact a firm's innovation. Moreover, this research examines the role of absorptive capacity with R&D as a proxy in moderating the female managers/owners-innovation relationship. This study uses firm-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys. The final sample consists of 4,438 firms in manufacturing industries in 2015-2016 across nine Southeast Asian economies (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor Leste, and Vietnam). The research adopts the multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression technique to deal with the hierarchical data structure issue, which is not addressed in the traditional binary choice regression technique (logistic or probit regression). The results show that firms led by female managers have a higher possibility to innovate. Female ownership is also positively associated with innovation propensity. The positive effects of female managers on a firm's innovation are enhanced by R&D activities. Besides, R&D also strengthens the positive effects of female owners on a firm's innovation. This study contributes as probably the first to develop the theoretical argument that R&D can positively moderate the gender-innovation link. Furthermore, from an empirical standpoint, the current study contributes as the first research on this topic in the Southeast Asian region.
Keywords
Absorptive Capacity; Female Managers; Female Owners; Innovation; Southeast Asia;
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