Abstract

Although it seems almost a stylized fact that females are less likely than males to start new ventures, closing this gender gap is essential to foster sustainable economic growth. In this study, we analyze whether gender inequality, as measured at the country level by the World Economic Forum since 2006, is associated with the gender gap in entrepreneurship. By analyzing country-level information about gender inequality (97 countries) in combination with individual-level data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (1,905,665 individuals) from the years 2006 to 2017, we find that in more gender equal countries involvement in total early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA) is higher. Gender inequality moderates the effect of gender on TEA, by almost closing the gender gap in entrepreneurship in the most gender equal countries. We show that gender inequalities in economic participation and opportunity as well as in political empowerment are the main drivers of this interaction effect. We find similar patterns when distinguishing between opportunity-driven and necessity-driven TEA. With opportunity-driven entrepreneurship as a potential vehicle for the economic empowerment of females, our study highlights the role of policies stimulating gender equality.

Details

Title
Gender inequality and the entrepreneurial gender gap: Evidence from 97 countries (2006–2017)
Author
Rietveld, Cornelius A. 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Patel, Pankaj C. 2 

 Erasmus University Rotterdam, Erasmus School of Economics, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (GRID:grid.6906.9) (ISNI:0000000092621349) 
 Villanova University, Villanova School of Business, Villanova, USA (GRID:grid.267871.d) (ISNI:0000 0001 0381 6134) 
Pages
1205-1229
Publication year
2022
Publication date
Sep 2022
Publisher
Springer Nature B.V.
ISSN
09369937
e-ISSN
14321386
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2730896173
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2022. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.