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Gender Differences in Perceived Business Success and Profit Growth Among Family Business Managers

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Abstract

Using data from the 1997–2000 National Family Business Surveys (NFBS), this study investigated the effect of gender on business success and profit growth among family businesses. The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) results indicate that all else being equal, female managers perceived their businesses as more successful than male managers, and they reported more profit growth between 1996 and 1999 than male managers. The results of the dummy variable interaction approach also show that a differential response existed in profit growth over time between female and male managers in relation to health status, business liabilities, business size, and whether the business was home-based. This study concludes that there are many distinct differences between male and female managers in business performance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family, Consumer, and Human Development, Utah State University, 218 Family Life, 2905 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322-2905, USA

    Yoon G. Lee

  2. Department of Consumer Science, School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1305 Linden Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Cynthia R. Jasper

  3. Department of Human Development and Family Science, North Dakota State University, P. O. Box 6060, Dept. 2615, Fargo, ND, 58108-6050, USA

    Margaret A. Fitzgerald

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  1. Yoon G. Lee
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  2. Cynthia R. Jasper
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  3. Margaret A. Fitzgerald
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Correspondence to Yoon G. Lee.

Additional information

This paper reports results from the Cooperative Regional Research Project, NE-167 “Family Business Viability in Economically Vulnerable Communities”, partially supported by the Cooperative States Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES); U.S. Department of Agriculture; Baruch College, the experiment stations at the University of Arkansas, University of Hawaii at Manoa, University of Illinois, Purdue University (Indiana), Iowa State University, University of Minnesota, Cornell University (New York), North Dakota State University, The Ohio State University, Oklahoma State University, Utah State University, and University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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Lee, Y.G., Jasper, C.R. & Fitzgerald, M.A. Gender Differences in Perceived Business Success and Profit Growth Among Family Business Managers. J Fam Econ Iss 31, 458–474 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-010-9226-z

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