Women to women: Enabling innovation and firm performance in developing countries

Social norms influencing women's activities are recognised more widely in the entrepreneurship literature, but how these may affect innovation in developing countries' contexts has attracted limited attention. This paper addresses this gap by exploring how women to women interactions influence firm level innovation and value-added productivity, using the World Bank Enterprise survey data from 16 low- and middle-income countries. We find that the combination of female owners and female top managers promotes innovation, which in turn enhances a firm's value-added productivity. Our research suggests there may be value in alerting (potential) women entrepreneurs of the benefits of working with an experienced woman manager. We argue initiatives such as female-to-female mentoring may be valuable for innovation within developing countries to overcome social and cultural barriers impeding women's participation in entrepreneurship. •Combination of female owners and female top managers promotes innovation.•Innovation in turn enhances a firm's value-added productivity.•Female-to-female mentoring may be valuable for innovation within developing countries.