Does gender equality bridge or buffer the entrepreneurship gender gap? A cross-country investigation
International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research
ISSN: 1355-2554
Article publication date: 28 August 2020
Issue publication date: 11 November 2020
Abstract
Purpose
Gender equality levels opportunities for men and women and reduces the initial capital constraints women often face, and yet as entrepreneurship opportunities for women open up in more developed and egalitarian societies, fewer women are choosing entrepreneurship. This paper explores this contradiction as it relates to female economic and political participation in the context of business regulation efficiency.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on panel data from 89 countries from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor survey and the Global Gender Gap report, we use random effects regression to examine relationships. Analyses included 252 country-years, and all data used during analyses were at the country level.
Findings
Results suggest that equality in economic participation narrows and political participation widens the entrepreneurship gender gap, but a country's business regulation efficiency moderates both relationships negatively.
Research limitations/implications
This study does not distinguish opportunity- and necessity-driven entrepreneurship, and does not consider the survival rates of enterprises and their industries.
Practical implications
Findings are pertinent to policymakers interested in advancing female entrepreneurship. They also apply to female entrepreneurs who must begin to recognize the diversity in work-life preferences among women and men.
Originality/value
A theoretical model is informed by two competing theories, suggesting that in the context of female entrepreneurship, removal of economic and political participation barriers, combined with business regulation efficiency, intensifies the entrepreneurship gender gap.
Keywords
Citation
Vracheva, V. and Stoyneva, I. (2020), "Does gender equality bridge or buffer the entrepreneurship gender gap? A cross-country investigation", International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Vol. 26 No. 8, pp. 1827-1844. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-03-2020-0144
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited