Does the presence of female decision-makers improve the crisis resilience of female employees?

Gender homophily during she-cession

  • László János Tőkés BCE Közgazdaságtan Intézet

Abstract

Gender equality in the labour market is becoming an increasingly important issue worldwide. The COVID-19 crisis posed a significant obstacle to achieving these goals: the recession affected women more severely than men, a phenomenon documented in the literature as the “she-cession.” This paper examines the intersection of gender homophily and female representation as a potential mitigating factor of the she-cession phenomenon. Using firm-level survey data from thirty countries, the author first demonstrates the existence of the she-cession during COVID-19. Then, motivated by various psychological and sociological theories, the paper tests the role of gender homophily and shows that during the economic recession of the COVID-19 pandemic, female decision-makers were more likely to favour female employees in hiring and retention. Employing the difference-in-differences methodology, the findings suggest that in companies led by female top managers, the she-cession phenomenon was less pronounced or entirely absent, meaning the proportion of female employees did not decrease during the first wave of COVID-19. The results indicate that promoting gender equality at the leadership level can also reduce inequalities at the employee level.

Author Biography

László János Tőkés, BCE Közgazdaságtan Intézet

 egyetemi adjunktus

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Published
2025-02-10
How to Cite
TőkésL. J. (2025). Does the presence of female decision-makers improve the crisis resilience of female employees? Gender homophily during she-cession. Hungarian Economic Review, 72(2), 141-157. Retrieved from https://ojs.mtak.hu/index.php/kszemle/article/view/18305
Section
Tanulmány