Working Paper: NBER ID: w28679
Authors: Sophie Calderwang; Paul Gompers; Patrick Sweeney
Abstract: In this paper, we document the historically low rate of hiring of women in the venture capital sector. We find that the high-profile Ellen Pao v. Kleiner Perkins gender discrimination trial had dramatic treatment effects. In difference-in-differences regressions, we find that the rate of hiring of female venture capitalists increased substantially after the trial and that the hiring was more pronounced in states that were more receptive to the exposure. We use the state-level mandated maternity benefits as an instrument for the receptivity to the treatment effects of the Pao Trial. We also show that the fraction of founders who are female increases after the Pao Trial, but that the increase is driven entirely by the hiring of female venture capitalists. There is no increase in the propensity of male venture capitalists to invest in female founders in the post-Pao Trial period.
Keywords: Venture Capital; Gender Discrimination; Hiring Practices; Ellen Pao Trial
JEL Codes: G3; J01; J16; J7; K31
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| hiring of female venture capitalists (G24) | increase in female founders (M13) |
| Ellen Pao trial (K41) | no change in investment behaviors among male venture capitalists (G40) |
| Ellen Pao trial (K41) | increase in hiring of female venture capitalists (G24) |
| higher search trends (R23) | greater increases in female hiring (J21) |
| Ellen Pao trial (K41) | reduction in gender bias in hiring (J16) |