Women Entrepreneurship in Visegrad Region and its Drivers

Abstract

The aim of our paper is to analyze the quantitative aspects of entrepreneurial activity among female population, and to investigate for drivers of women involvement in early‑stage entrepreneurial activities in Visegrad countries (i.e. Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland). We employ Global Entrepreneurship Monitor national and individual level data for four consecutive years 2011 – 2014 (altogether 16,036 respondents). First, we analyze the main indicators of female entrepreneurial activity, including the inclusivity index, using the descriptive statistics methods. Second, we execute logistic regression analysis and look for the factors related to entering the entrepreneurial path among women in our region, while considering the opportunity and necessity motive dichotomy. Our results show that women in V4 region exhibit more sceptic attitudes towards entrepreneurship as well as low inclusion in entrepreneurial activity in all stages, compared to their male counterparts. Further in our analysis, we have identified the most important factors that act as women entrepreneurship drivers, considering its motivation. Our findings therefore unveil the problematic aspects of women entrepreneurship in Visegrad countries and point out the potential solutions. In our paper we further discuss these findings and their implications.