Factors Affecting Gender Discrepancy in Entrepreneurial Activity

In spite of rising market opportunities in new, knowledge-based economies, women’s representation in business start-ups and ownership remains remarkably low across industrialized nations (Allen et al., 2008; Kelley, et al., 2010; The´baud, 2015). This low entrepreneurial activity rate could be explained by the lack of possession of different resources that facilitate entrepreneurial activities. The existing literature on women’s entrepreneurship has often explained women’s status by examining patterns of gender inequality in the labor market, such as wage and salary differences. For example, women are less likely to have the human, social, and financial capital deemed critical for the recognition and pursuit of market opportunities, such as workplace and managerial experience, heterogeneous social networks, income, and wealth (Kim, Aldrich, and Keister, 2006; The´baud, 2015). Gender-differentiated perceptions about the activity of entrepreneurship can also contribute to gender gaps in the likelihood of being a business owner (Arenius and Minniti, 2005; Minniti and Nardone, 2007). A number of studies have identified performance gaps between men and women entrepreneurs as a global phenomenon (for example, see OECD, 2005 for OECD countries and Sabarwal and Terrell, 2008 for countries in Eastern Europe). However, most support to women entrepreneurship has focused on developing countries.