佐治亚州女性和男性经营私人酒店的生产力差距：基于数据包络分析的元前沿分析

11310 Productivity Gap between Women-and Men-Run Private Hotels in Georgia A Data Envelopment Analysis–Based MetaFrontier Analysis Mohammad AminNesma Ali Development EconomicsGlobal Indicators GroupFebruary 2026 A verified reproducibility package for this paper isavailable athttp://reproducibility.worldbank.org,clickherefor direct access. Policy Research Working Paper11310 Abstract This paper makes an initial attempt to account for differ-ences in the technologies used by women- and men-runbusinesses, that is, technological “heterogeneity,” for betterunderstanding productivity differences between the twogroups. The paper applies meta frontier analysis to the effi-ciency of private hotels in Georgia estimated using the dataenvelopment analysis methodology. The exercise allows dis-tinguishing between productivity differences conditional onthe available technology to each group(technical efficiency)and due to differences in the available technology(technol-ogy gap). The findings show that gender-based differences intechnical efficiency and the technology gapare very differentin their direction, size, and distribution across low versushigh levels of efficiency. For example, women-run hotelsoutperform men-run hotels in technical efficiency by 21 percentage points. However, this superior performance isalmost fully countered by the inferior technology used bywomen due to the prevailing socio-cultural and economicenvironment. The findings also show that the impact of thetechnology gapon widening the productivity gap is muchstronger at low levels of efficiency than at higher levels(the “sticky floors” effect). No such evidence is found fortechnical efficiencyor overall efficiency. Thus, the existingliterature, which assumes technological “homogeneity,”provides at best an incomplete picture of the true nature ofgender-based productivity gaps and at worst, a misleadingone. The main result survives endogeneity checks based onpropensity score matching and is robust to several measuresof productivity and outlier checks. Policy implications ofthe findings are discussed. The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about developmentissues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry thenames of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely thoseof the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank andits affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. Productivity Gap between Women- and Men-Run Private Hotels in Georgia:A Data Envelopment Analysis–Based Meta Frontier Analysis Mohammad Amin*and Nesma Ali** Keywords: Meta frontier analysis, gender productivity gaps, data envelopment analysis, hotelsJEL: C13, C14, D24, J16, L83, L89 1. Introduction The productivity difference between firms led or managed by women and men (henceforth, theproductivity gap) has been explored in several studies. A key assumption in all these studies is“homogeneity” of technology, which is that women and men managers have access to the sameproduction possibility set or technology. The assumption is at odds with the broader literatureshowing that women and men operate in different socio-cultural and economic environments thatdetermine their unique and distinct challenges and opportunities. We employ the concept of metafrontier developed by Battese and Rao (2002) and O’Donnell et al. (2008) to account fortechnological “heterogeneity” - that is, difference in technology used by women and men managers- in analyzing the gender-based productivity gap among private hotels in Georgia. Several new andimportant insights emerge about the size and structure of the productivity gap. Technological “heterogeneity” occurs when decision-making units (DMUs) like firms,consumers, governments, and hotels can be split into groups and each group uses its own anddistinct technology. Group-specific technologies result from differences between groups inexternal or environmental factors confronting them, such as resource endowments, market size,government regulations, adoption and diffusion of new technology, and the economic and socialenvironment (Walheer 2024). The key benefit of technological “heterogeneity” is that it enablesus to distinguish between productivity differences between groups conditional on the technologyavailable to each group (differences intechnical efficiency) and due to differences in the availabletechnology(technology gap).Since technical efficiency is a within-group measure,it isindependent of factors that constrain or benefit the productivity of all women-run hotels (likewisefor men-run hotels). Instead, it depends on pure managerial skills o