This paper conducts an empirical analysis on the determinants of gender difference in the managerial careers among Japanese firms by employing a unique Japanese employer-employee matched data. The main findings from our research are twofold. First, the main determinants of female managerial career success are individual attributes such as human capital, family factors, and work factors such as work hours and work willingness. The influence of Japanese firm attributes and policy factors such as work-life-balance policy and positive action policy performed by the government also exist. Second, the results based on decomposition method show that both the explained component (by individual or firm characteristics differential) and the unexplained component (this partly reflects gender discrimination effects) cause the gender difference in managerial careers.
