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Published byJunior Cooper Modified over 9 years ago
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WHERE DOES ‘GENDER’ MATTER IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP? Enabling Environment and Policy Reforms to Support Female Entrepreneurship Mary Hallward-Driemeier Chief Economist Office, FPD
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Where does ‘gender’ matter in entrepreneurship? Where do women work? What enterprises do they run? Which dimension of IC matters most for women? Directly – as women Indirectly – where more women work Looking beyond levels of IC
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Women’s entrepreneurship is high -- But concentrated in self-employment At low levels of income, women are disproportionately in self- employment. Greater relative participation of women in wage work as income rises Women’s share of employers remains constant But 10 percentage points lower than women’s share in the non-agric. labor force Women’s share in non-agricultural employment averages 38 percent – across income levels Agenda is not to raise women’s entrepreneurship per se – but to help women move into higher value added activities
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Definition of “female enterprise” matters 1. Participation in ownership 2. Decision maker Of those with ‘some female ownership’ – women are a main decision maker in only half 3. Sole proprietors – ownership and decision maker Choice matters: Performance gaps using the first definition are not significant; they are using the second and third.
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Property rights: especially family law Ethiopia – change of family law raised share of women working outside the home Access to finance Require male co- signature Less access to collateral Harassment – what is asked for is not always money; ‘sextortion’ Shares that have ‘frequently’ heard of sexual favors being raised in certain transactions Direct impact of gender – greater IC constraints faced by women as women
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Variations are greater across sectors than by gender within a sector But women are more likely to run informal or smaller firms. Indirect gender effects. Addressing constraints to smaller firms can disproportionately help women. Factors affecting entry and choice of activity / formality / size of enterprise are key to explaining outcomes.
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Which dimension of the IC matters? Most work has focused on the LEVEL of IC conditions (days or costs to get things done) But VARIATION in the IC is also costly Introduces uncertainty that is associated with lower investment and hiring Opens the door to more corruption Women’s enterprises are less likely to be ‘favored firms’ Detrimental effects are larger on SMEs Undermines government’s credibility Thwarts the public interest they were supposed to serve May undermine support for reforms by creating different interests between favored and non-favored firms.
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Take away messages Agenda -- supporting women to pursue higher value added activities, not raising entrepreneurship per se Careful how you define ‘female enterprises’ Bring decision making authority into account where possible Factors affecting entry and choice of enterprise are key Within sectors and size, gender is less important Gender can matter directly (restrictions in (family) law) and indirectly(constraints that hit smaller firms harder) Look at degree of variation in constraints across firms Associated with corruption and uncertainty Women less likely to be ‘favored firms’
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