Agent gender and firm compliance in relational exchanges

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a gender effect exists in firm compliance decisions in relational supply chain exchanges.

Design/methodology/approach

To test the authors' hypotheses, a scenario‐based experiment was conducted with undergraduate and graduate business students from three different US universities. The data were analyzed using multiple regression analyses.

Findings

The results show that after controlling for the control variables, a gender effect on compliance in the buyer‐supplier relationship was found. This finding indicates support for the gender role hypothesis and not for the gender stereotype or gender equality hypotheses.

Originality/value

Compliance in relational exchanges has been studied over the last few years. However, the literature is vacuous of gender effect studies in firm compliance decisions. The paper fills a void in the literature by reporting on the existence of gender effect in compliance decisions in relational supply chain exchanges.

Citation

Ro, Y., Hung, K. and Tangpong, C. (2012), "Agent gender and firm compliance in relational exchanges", International Journal of Commerce and Management, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 53-74. https://doi.org/10.1108/10569211211204519