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This paper analyses the effects of gender and institutional support services on commercialisation patterns of maize by female-headed households (FHHs) and male-headed households (MHHs) in Western Kenya. Using primary household survey data from 297 maize farmers, we estimate a Tobit model and a treatment effect model to assess the determinants and gender-induced differences in commercialisation patterns, respectively. Results show that commercialisation levels of FHHs and MHHs were significantly and variably affected by institutional support services. The exogenous switching treatment effect model showed that the commercialisation intensity gap between MHHs and FHHs is explained by both observable and unobservable characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]