Abstract
Female entrepreneurship is a relevant phenomenon all around the world. In reference to Italy, there has been a growing involvement of women in the creation of start-ups only over the last decades. However, from an extensive literature review, it results that there are no relevant studies aiming to test the main differences between male and female Italian entrepreneurs, especially in reference to the levers affecting their propensity to launch new start-ups. The present paper tries to reduce this gap by testing whether male and female Italian entrepreneurs differ in terms of intellectual capital affecting their propensity to launch new start-ups. The sample used for the present research derives from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor – GEM website, refers to 2013 and comprehends 1,055 female and 997 male entrepreneurs. Results show that male and female Italian entrepreneurs are more similar than expected. Some reflections about the state-of-the-art of female entrepreneurship in Italy and some hints for future research are included in the last section of the paper.
Highlights
The affirmation of female entrepreneurship as an autonomous field of research has not been so easy (Allen et al, 2007)
In reference to relational capital (H1), it is possible to hypothesize that: H1a: The relationship between relational capital and individual propensity to launch new start-ups is stronger for Italian male entrepreneurs
In order to pursue the aim of this paper, i.e. to test if there is any difference between male and female Italian entrepreneurs in reference to their propensity to launch new start-ups, binomial logistic regression models are estimated for male and female entrepreneurs
Summary
The affirmation of female entrepreneurship as an autonomous field of research has not been so easy (Allen et al, 2007). Put according to the two scholars the involvement of women in entrepreneurship is not worth being investigated since it is a secondary choice, following their interest toward family. Without getting into this matter, it is enough saying that other scholars have not embraced this approach. In contrast to this approach, entrepreneurship scholars have adopted two others The former is based on the idea that there are no meaningful differences between male and female entrepreneurs (Chaganti, 1986; Birley, 1989); the latter assumes that some differences between them do exist (Gallos, 1989; Gutek & Larwood, 1989; Brush, 1992; Powell & Mainiero, 1992)
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