Gender diversity and innovation performance in family firms: Evidence from the Spanish manufacturing industry

Abstract

This paper, drawing on the upper echelon theory, examines the relationship between the existence and degree of gender diversity in top management teams (TMTs) with firm’s innovation performance, using a sample of 1.808 Spanish manufacturing firms. We follow a two-step multivariate analysis distinguishing between product and process innovation and comparing family and non-family. Our findings show a positive relationship between gender diversity and process innovation, and a U-shaped relationship between the degree of gender diversity and product innovation in family firms, but not in non-family firms.