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Women's rural businesses: for economic viability or gender equality? – a database study from the Swedish context

Malin Tillmar (Organization and Entrepreneruship, School of Business and Economics, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden)
Birgitta Sköld (Department of Management and Engineering, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden)
Helene Ahl (School of Education and Communication, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden)
Karin Berglund (Stockholm Business School, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden)
Katarina Pettersson (Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden)

International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship

ISSN: 1756-6266

Article publication date: 24 January 2022

Issue publication date: 9 August 2022

707

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore and discuss to what extent and why women's entrepreneurship contributes to rural economic viability and gender equality in an advanced welfare state.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use detailed register data to explore men's and women's rural businesses in the most common industries for rural women entrepreneurs in the Swedish welfare state. Based on a literature review, the authors develop hypotheses and analyse how family, business and industry factors influence earnings.

Findings

Women's rural entrepreneurship is important for rural viability, as women's businesses provide a wide range of services necessary for life in rural areas. Although women's rural businesses are not significantly smaller than those of men, women's income is lower and more sensitive to business and industry variables. Marriage has positive effects for the earnings of men but negative effects for the earnings of women. The authors argue that the results are contingent on the gendering of entrepreneurship and industries, as well as on the local rural gender contracts. For these reasons, the importance of women entrepreneurs for rural viability is not reflected in their own incomes. Hence, women's rural entrepreneurship does not result in (economic) gender equality.

Originality/value

Entrepreneurship scholars rarely explore women's rural entrepreneurship, and particularly not in the Global North or Western welfare states. Therefore, this empirical study from Sweden provides novel information on how the gender order on the business, industry and family levels influences the income of men and women entrepreneurs differently.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge funding from The Kamprad Family Foundation for Entrepreneurship, Research and Charity as well as from the Swedish Innovation Agency Vinnova through Helix Competence Centre. The authors also acknowledge the advice and support from anonymous reviewers.

Citation

Tillmar, M., Sköld, B., Ahl, H., Berglund, K. and Pettersson, K. (2022), "Women's rural businesses: for economic viability or gender equality? – a database study from the Swedish context", International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 323-351. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJGE-06-2021-0091

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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