Workforce Reductions at Women-Owned Businesses in the United States

Abstract

This paper finds that women-owned private firms were less likely than firms owned by men to downsize their workforces during the Great Recession. Year-to-year employment reductions were as much as 29 percent smaller at women-owned firms, even after controlling for industry, size, and profitability. Using data that allow us to control for additional detailed firm and owner characteristics, we also find that women-owned firms operated with greater labor intensity after the previous recession and were less likely to hire temporary or leased workers. These patterns extend previous findings associating female business leadership with increased labor hoarding.