Abstract

This study examines the relationship between gender diversity and productivity in US police agencies from 2010 to 2022. Using a two-stage empirical approach, we assess the effects of gender diversity on police productivity through a Global Malmquist Productivity Index (GMPI) and fixed effects regression models. Our findings indicate that agencies with higher female representation (⩾ 30%) increases their productivity by about 29% compared to a 3% improvement for agencies with lower female representation. The results of the decomposition of the GMPI reveal that agencies with a larger share of female officers show greater improvements in both operational efficiency and technological innovation. The second-stage results indicate that, after controlling for agency-level and time-fixed effects, gender diversity is positively correlated with increased overall productivity, efficiency, and the adoption of technological innovation. The magnitude of these effects ranges from 16% to 29%. Robustness checks confirm the initial intuition that having more female officers contributes to higher overall productivity. Our study contributes to the existing literature on gender and performance and shows how gender diversity can enhance several aspects of police productivity over time, which lends support to initiatives to increase female representation in law enforcement.