Corruption Beyond the Glass Ceiling: Do Women Entrepreneurs Perceive Corruption Differently?

Abstract

Adding to the corruption-gender nexus, this paper contributes across several dimensions: (a) measurement of corruption by studying whether female managers and female owners of firms perceived corruption differently; (b) using survey information at the firm level; and (c) employing a large sample of more than 100 countries. Results show that both female managers and female owners perceived corruption to be lower relative to men. Furthermore, older firms perceived corruption to be a more server obstacle, while sole proprietorships generally had the opposite view. The advantages of piercing the glass ceiling were undermined in nations with severe gender inequality.

Keywords: corruption perceptions, entrepreneurship, gender, managers, owners

JEL Classification: K400, L200