Does Salesforce Gender Composition Buffer Demand Irregularities? Evidence from Deposits Market

Abstract

Yes, it does. This paper finds novel evidence that salesforce gender composition has first order importance in buffering demand irregularities. We use detailed administrative data on the population of bank-branches in India. We show that savings and term deposits respond negatively to an exogenous household income shock proxied by the spatial variation in rainfalls at 0.5°X0.5° latitude-longitude. Branch level female salesforce share reduces deposit outflows at both the intensive and extensive margins, indicating that salesforce gender composition buffers demand irregularities. The effects are heterogeneous depending on the degree of economic activities of the region as proxied by the nightlight luminosity, and gender composition at the organizational hierarchy. We estimate a model of salesforce effort sensitivity of deposit demands. Demand estimates reveal a substantial gender gap in salesforce effort sensitivity: female salesforce effort sensitivity exceeds that of male salesforce. Perforce, given that deposit stability has been at the center of recent academic and policy debates, our results indicate a novel salesforce channel in preventing deposit withdrawals, which could also be beneficial during bank runs.

Keywords: salesforce, marketing, gender, deposits, household finance, banking, India

JEL Classification: M31, O16, G21, G5, M12