| In this paper we investigate how individual determinants of entrepreneurship - such as age, income, education, work status, skills, access to networks and fear of failure - differ between males and females. We conduct our exercise using individual data provided by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), available for 46 countries, between 2001 and 2004. The literature on entrepreneurship has uncovered differences in the rate of entrepreneurship between men and women, with women generally displaying lower entrepreneurial activity than men. We find that indeed entrepreneurial activity rates are lower for females across all but one of the countries in the sample. Looking at categorical groups we find that female entrepreneurial rates are significantly lower than for males. Female entrepreneurs are slightly older, more frequently at home or not working, lower income and lower educated, and less access to business networks than their male counterparts. Results for entrepreneurship by opportunity and by necessity confirm the larger importance of specific skills for women creating new businesses. These results suggest that facilitating access to business networks and specific business skills are the most powerful instruments to increase the rates of female entrepreneurship. |
