The entrepreneurial ladder, gender, and regional development

Abstract

Gender differences at five levels of entrepreneurial engagement are explained using country effects while controlling for individual-level variables. We distinguish between individuals who have never considered starting up a business, those who are thinking about it, and nascent, young, and established entrepreneurs. We use a large international dataset that includes respondents from 32 European countries, three Asian countries, and the United States. Findings show that cross-country gender differences are largest in the first and final transitions of the entrepreneurial process. In particular, some European transition economies are characterized by relatively low propensities of women to convert start-up considerations into start-up activities and low survival rates of businesses started by women.