Business Advisory Services and Female Employment in an Extreme Institutional Context

Publicly funded business advisory services face pressure to demonstrate value-added effects among their assisted firms. Our research aims to measure the effectiveness of a business advisory program developed in a developed country and applied in an emerging economy with a male-dominated labor market. We also seek to determine the effects of increased professionalization resulting from advisory services. Comparing the business advisory services of a publicly funded organization with that of a matched sample, we observe an overall positive effect on job creation; however, this employment growth benefits males at the expense of females. We also find a reduction in unpaid family work and an increase in formal, full time employment but again, this professionalization and substitution effect mainly benefits male workers.