Gender and returns to entrepreneurship in Africa

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess determinants of returns to male and female entrepreneurship in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda at selected quantiles along the distribution, as well as examine gender gaps in returns to entrepreneurship and factors contributing these gaps. Design/methodology/approach Employing a unique data set collected in the three countries on entrepreneurial motivations, constraints and performance, the authors apply unconditional quantile regression technique to assess the determinants of returns to entrepreneurship at various quantiles along the distribution. Additionally, the authors employ decomposition techniques to assess gender gaps in returns to entrepreneurship at various points along the distribution. The data contain extensive information on entrepreneur’s personal characteristics, including parental background and household composition and structure. Findings The study finds substantial differences in determinants of returns to male and female entrepreneurship along the distribution, with firm asset increasing returns to entrepreneurship. There is also the presence of gender gaps in returns to entrepreneurship at the lower-end of distribution, however, gaps disappear at the upper tail of the distribution, indicative of sticky floors in returns to entrepreneurship in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda. The authors also find gender bias against female entrepreneurship in the three countries, as unobserved characteristics largely responsible for the gender gaps in entrepreneurial returns. Originality/value This work has been undertaken by the authors and has not been carried out by any other person. The study will add to the existing literature on gender and returns to entrepreneurship.

Financing accumulation for start-up capital

“…Focussing on start-up capital, Liu et al (2019) show that women make investment choices depending on their savings behaviour, which, it should be noted, is positively associated with a competitive advantage in family firms. This finding is consistent with Agyire-Tettey et al (2018), who found that the fundamentals of a start-up’s investments influence the working capital. Some researchers discussed how working capital is the main start-up’s capital need to gain financing, investment and dividend decisions, in the long run (Motylska-Kuzma, 2017; Leitch et al , 2018).…”

Why are Africa's Female Entrepreneurs Not Playing the Export Game? Evidence from Ghana

“…Yet, evidence suggests that female entrepreneurs still have a long way to go to catch up with their male peers (Abor and Quartey, 2010). They perform significantly worse than their male counterparts, with reduced productivity (Owoo et al, 2019) and sales (Agyire-Tettey et al, 2018).…”

Gender question: Econometric answer

“…Thus, gender-dependent behaviour is put under question. As the most cited literature sources demonstrated there is some difference in the entrepreneur strategies of women versus men (Agyire-Tettey et al, 2018;Cañizares & García, 2010) even at the start stage while stating the decision of being the entrepreneur (Perez-Quintana et al, 2017;Solesvik et al, 2019). Women entrepreneurs are more likely to start social ventures than commercial ventures (Hechavarria & Ingram, 2016).…”