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Gender and the Business Environment for New Firm Creation

Gender and the Business Environment for New Firm Creation The authors summarize the extant literature on the relationship between gender and entrepreneurship. They note significant quantitative gender differences in business entry, with male-owned firms heavily prevailing over firms owned by women in many parts of the world. They find that enterprises owned by men on the one hand and women on the other are generally concentrated in different sectors, women entrepreneurs being better represented in labor intensive sectors such as trade and services rather than capital intensive manufacturing industries. They also observe certain gender differentials in business survival and growth patterns. Yet an analysis of a large body of literature does not suggest that, in general, the so called gender gap in entrepreneurship can be explained by explicit discrimination in laws or regulations. Rather, differences in quantitative and qualitative indicators of business entry and performance can in part be explained by a number of business environment factors that disproportionately affect a woman's decision to operate a business in the formal sector. For example the concentration of women in low capital intensive industrieswhich require less funding and at the same time have a lower potential for growth and developmentmight also be driven by barriers against women regarding access to finance. Furthermore, women may have relatively less physical and reputational collateral than men, which limits their access to finance. Overall the literature suggests that improvements in the business environment can help promote high-growth female entrepreneurship. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The World Bank Research Observer Oxford University Press

Gender and the Business Environment for New Firm Creation

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Publisher
Oxford University Press
Copyright
The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / the world bank. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissionsoup.com
Subject
Symposium on “Business Environments”
ISSN
0257-3032
eISSN
1564-6971
DOI
10.1093/wbro/lkp032
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The authors summarize the extant literature on the relationship between gender and entrepreneurship. They note significant quantitative gender differences in business entry, with male-owned firms heavily prevailing over firms owned by women in many parts of the world. They find that enterprises owned by men on the one hand and women on the other are generally concentrated in different sectors, women entrepreneurs being better represented in labor intensive sectors such as trade and services rather than capital intensive manufacturing industries. They also observe certain gender differentials in business survival and growth patterns. Yet an analysis of a large body of literature does not suggest that, in general, the so called gender gap in entrepreneurship can be explained by explicit discrimination in laws or regulations. Rather, differences in quantitative and qualitative indicators of business entry and performance can in part be explained by a number of business environment factors that disproportionately affect a woman's decision to operate a business in the formal sector. For example the concentration of women in low capital intensive industrieswhich require less funding and at the same time have a lower potential for growth and developmentmight also be driven by barriers against women regarding access to finance. Furthermore, women may have relatively less physical and reputational collateral than men, which limits their access to finance. Overall the literature suggests that improvements in the business environment can help promote high-growth female entrepreneurship.

Journal

The World Bank Research Observer – Oxford University Press

Published: Aug 25, 2011

Keywords: JEL codes L26 J16 H11 O16 O17 P43

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