Rate Of Entrepreneurial Activity Research Articles

Designing a global standardized methodology for measuring social entrepreneurship activity: the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor social entrepreneurship study

Although there is a high level of practitioner, policymaker, and scholar interest in social entrepreneurship, most research is based on case studies and success stories of successful social entrepreneurs in a single country. We develop a methodology to measure population-based social entrepreneurship activity (SEA) prevalence rates and test it in 49 countries. Our results provide insights into institutional and individual drivers of SEA. Using the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) methodology of Total Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA), we find that countries with higher rates of traditional entrepreneurial activity also tend to have higher rates of social entrepreneurial activity. We develop a broad definition of social entrepreneurship and then explore types based on social mission, revenue model, and innovativeness.

Determinants of Entrepreneurship: Are Women Different?

In this paper we investigate, for the first time, 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. This is important since, as we show, entrepreneurial activity is positively related across countries with the female to male entrepreneurial ratio. We examine total entrepreneurship rates, as well as entrepreneurship driven by opportunity and by need. 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 – by age interval, education, work status, etc. – we find that female entrepreneurial rates are significantly lower than for males. For the first time we test for differences in the characteristics of female and male entrepreneurs and find that 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. AS to the determinants of entrepreneurial rates themselves, the main differences across genders are the lower impact of secondary education and the larger impact of skills and fear of failure in female entrepreneurial rates relative to males. Results for entrepreneurship by opportunity and by necessity confirm the larger importance of specific skills for women creating new businesses,. Our results suggest that facilitating access to business networks and specific business skills are the most powerful instruments to increase the rates of female entrepreneurship.

Turbulence Business in Colombia: Case Study Dessert Sector (In Spanish)

Throughout history and according to changes in society have noted that they have used different formulas for employers to ensure the sustainability of organizations. These formulas in many cases there are specific companies, but imitate those who have been successful. In other cases, models have emerged within organizations as a result of environmental monitoring. Currently we are facing a new environment where globalization and rapid change have become a constant.According to research conducted in 2008 by the GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor) which measures the rate of entrepreneurial activity, Colombia ranks third after Bolivia and Peru. However, we also found that many companies end their activities in Colombia before his first five years (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2009).Hence, it is vital for companies to find tools that give items to businessmen and entrepreneurs to have wider vision of a sector and thus make better decisions. Structural analysis of strategic sectors (AESE) meets financial and nonfinancial information to achieve the vision mentioned (Roatta Acevedo, 2006).Ready desserts sector in Colombia has not been investigated and many entrepreneurs choose to opt for this option as a business informally, with few companies that remain in time.

Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity: 1996-2009

In 2009, the number of people reporting entry into entrepreneurial activity in the United States reached its highest point over the last fourteen years. This increased rate of entrepreneurship was seen across most demographic categories, with the largest increases coming among older individuals and African-Americans. While the West continues to have a higher rate of entrepreneurship than other parts of the country do, it showed a sharp decline in 2008. These trends and many more are discussed here in the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, the leading indicator of new business creation in the United States.Capturing new business owners in their first month of significant business activity, this measure provides the earliest documentation of new business development across the country. The percentage of the adult, non-business-owner population that starts a business each month is measured using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS). In addition to this overall rate of entrepreneurial activity, separate estimates for specific demographic groups, states, and select metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) are presented. The Index provides the only national measure of business creation by specific demographic groups.New 2009 data allow for an update to previous reports, with consideration of trends in the rates of entrepreneurial activity over the fourteen-year period between 1996 and 2009. The Kauffman Index reveals important shifts in the national level of entrepreneurial activity and shifts in the demographic and geographic composition of new entrepreneurs across the country. Key findings for 2009 include:• In 2009, 0.34 percent of the adult population (or 340 out of 100,000 adults) created a new business each month, representing approximately 558,000 new businesses per month. The 2009 entrepreneurial activity rate represents an increase over the 2008 rate of 0.32 percent and represents the highest level over the past decade and a half.• Overall, men are substantially more likely to start businesses each month than are women. The entrepreneurial activity rate for men increased slightly from 0.42 percent in 2007 to 0.43 percent in 2008. The Kauffman Index for women also increased slightly, from 0.24 percent to 0.25 percent.• The entrepreneurial activity rate among African-Americans increased from 0.22 percent in 2008 to 0.27 percent in 2009, reaching the highest level over the past decade and a half. • The Latino entrepreneurial activity rate decreased from 0.48 percent in 2008 to 0.46 percent in 2009, and the Asian entrepreneurial activity rate decreased from 0.35 percent in 2008 to 0.31 percent in 2009. The non-Latino white business-creation rate increased from 2008 to 2009 (0.31 percent to 0.33 percent).• The immigrant rate of entrepreneurial activity declined slightly from 0.53 percent in 2008 to 0.51 percent in 2009, but remained substantially higher than the native-born rate of 0.30 percent.• The oldest age group (ages fifty-five to sixty-four) experienced the second-largest increase in business-creation rates from 2008 to 2009, contributing to a two-year upward trend. Among this group, entrepreneurial activity rose from 0.36 percent to 0.40 percent. The age group thirty-five to forty-four also experienced a large increase in entrepreneurial activity from 2008 to 2009 (0.35 percent to 0.40 percent). The youngest age group (twenty to thirty-four) has a substantially lower entrepreneurship rate (0.24 percent).• Entrepreneurship rates increased the most for college-educated individuals (0.31 percent to 0.34 percent), and high school individuals (0.35 percent to 0.38 percent) in 2009. • The construction industry had the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity of all major industry groups in 2009 (1.55 percent). The second highest rate of entrepreneurial activity was in the services industry (0.42 percent).• The entrepreneurial activity rate declined sharply in the West, from 0.42 percent in 2008 to 0.38 percent in 2009. Business creation rates increased in the Midwest and South, but the West continues to have the highest rates.• The states with the highest rates of entrepreneurial activity were Oklahoma (470 per 100,000 adults), Montana (470 per 100,000 adults), Arizona (460 per 100,000 adults), Texas (450 per 100,000 adults), and Idaho (450 per 100,000 adults). The states with the lowest rates of entrepreneurial activity were Mississippi (170 per 100,000 adults), Nebraska (200 per 100,000 adults), Pennsylvania (200 per 100,000 adults), Alabama (210 per 100,000 adults), and Minnesota (220 per 100,000 adults).• The states experiencing the largest increases in entrepreneurial activity rates over the past decade were Georgia (0.20 percentage points), Arizona (0.14 percentage points), Tennessee (0.13 percentage points), District of Columbia (0.12 percentage points), and Massachusetts (0.10 percentage points). The states that experienced the largest decreases in their rates were New Mexico (-0.20 percentage points), Alaska (-0.15 percentage points), North Dakota (-0.12 percentage points), and Nebraska (-0.10 percentage points).• Among the fifteen largest MSAs in the United States, the highest entrepreneurial activity rate in 2009 was in Houston (0.63 percent). The large MSA with the lowest rate of entrepreneurial activity was Seattle (0.16 percent).

The Case of Innovation and R&D in New Zealand’s Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Too Many Small Firms?

New Zealand provides a special case for a developed country where innovation and R&D levels are comparatively low in SMEs, yet, paradoxically, it is also a nation of high rates of entrepreneurial activity. In attempting to explain these low rates of innovation activity, a number of conjectures have been put forward. These include that the number of small firms is too high, perversely that the level of entrepreneurial activity (new start businesses) is too high and that the distance from major markets and isolated situation means that innovative SMEs are forced to locate abroad. Despite these issues, there is lack of empirical evidence on innovation levels in SMEs in New Zealand and there remain few studies that have investigated the significance of these issues to test hypotheses about the low levels of innovative activity. This research gap and lack of empirical evidence is addressed by this paper from an analysis of panel data set of 1500 New Zealand SMEs on their innovative activities, the motivations for innovation and barriers. We test research propositions and associated hypotheses based on existing theory and literature and discuss our findings. We argue that barriers remain an issue which should be a focus for government support, rather than seeking to reduce entrepreneurial activity or selecting growth firms for support.

Some Socio-Institutional Factors Which Explain the Greater Degree of Entrepreneurial Activities of Immigrants

Immigrants have mostly been studied for their contributions as members of the labour force. However, they often choose to become entrepreneurs. According to the relevant literature, there is evidence that immigrants are relatively more entrepreneurially active than local inhabitants. The objective of this study is to verify how being an immigrant influences individuals to become entrepreneurs. This paper also analyses how different socio-institutional framework conditions have different influences on the entrepreneurial activity of immigrants, helping to explain their higher rates of entrepreneurial activity. To conduct this research, the Spanish Global Entrepreneur Monitor (GEM) adult population survey from 2008 was used, to which a rare events logit regression model was applied. The results indicate that an immigrant has a higher likelihood of becoming an entrepreneur. Role Models and Social Fear of Failure explain part of the differential entrepreneurial activity rates for immigrants in Spain. Compared to Spaniards, the self-confidence of immigrants in their entrepreneurial skills has a stronger impact on their entrepreneurial activity.

Education and entrepreneurial activity: A comparison of White and South Asian Men

Although a large body of literature exists on ethnic entrepreneurship and the relationship between education and entrepreneurial activity, comparatively little work has been undertaken to study the impact that university-level education has upon entrepreneurship within different ethnic minority groups. This article examines the entrepreneurial activity rates for graduates and non-graduates of three differing ethnic groups in the UK and shows that university education has differing influences across ethnic groups. While Pakistani graduate respondents were more likely to be involved in entrepreneurial activities as compared to non-graduates, education appeared to have less impact on increasing the interest in entrepreneurship of Indian adults. This is likely to be a reflection of the differing forces that have traditionally driven individuals from these communities into entrepreneurship, as indicated by a large Pakistani move from necessity-driven entrepreneurship to opportunity-driven entrepreneurship. Therefore, the relationship between entrepreneurship and education varies by ethnic minority group, and policy initiatives to increase entrepreneurship within these groups needs to be adjusted accordingly to be effective.

Exploring the impact of education on Korean-American entrepreneurs

Education has been shown to have myriad effects on people, from increasing their incomes to changing their views of the world. In the area of entrepreneurship, education creates opportunities and increases the rate of entrepreneurial activity. This study explores educationʼs effects on the immigrant entrepreneurship development processes and outcomes in the context of Korean-Americans by comparing a national sample of Korean-Americans with differing amounts of education. The sample is part of the National Minority Business Owners Surveys (NMBOS) carried out by the Lawrence N. Field Center for Entrepreneurship at Baruch College between 2003 and 2005. The authors hypothesize that high-education Korean-Americans will have larger and more successful businesses, have more varying types of businesses, and follow differing paths to business formation. In addition, the authors hypothesize that motivations, goals, and attitudes toward their businesses, families, and their lives generally will be different. Among other things, confidence and level of satisfaction with their business will be higher for the high-education group. The study finds that while the low- and high-education groups vary in their types of businesses, the paths followed into those businesses, and the size of their businesses, they are very similar as to their attitudes, motivations, and family interactions. Implications for future research are discussed.

Exploring Country-Level Institutional Arrangements on the Rate and Type of Entrepreneurial Activity

This study introduces a novel multidimensional measure of the entrepreneurial environment that reveals how differences in institutional arrangements influence both the rate and the type of entrepreneurial activity in a country. Drawing from institutional theory, the measure examines the regulatory, normative, and cognitive dimensions of entrepreneurial activity, and introduces a novel conducive dimension that measures a country’s capability to support high-impact entrepreneurship. Our findings suggest that differences in institutional arrangements are associated with variance in both the rate and type of entrepreneurial activity across countries. For the formation of innovative, high-growth new ventures, the regulative environment matters very little. For high-impact entrepreneurship an institutional environment filled with new opportunities created by knowledge spillovers and the capital necessary for high-impact entrepreneurship matter most.

Explaining the levels of innovation and R&D in New Zealand’s small and medium-sized enterprises: Too many small firms?

This paper is concerned with explaining the levels of innovative activity in New Zealand’s SMEs. It is arguable that New Zealand provides a special case where innovation and R&D levels are comparatively low in SMEs, yet, paradoxically, it is also a nation of high rates of entrepreneurial activity. This paper seeks to examine the factors that affect innovation levels in New Zealand SMEs from an analysis of panel data set of 1500 SMEs. We test research propositions based on existing theory and literature on innovation levels in SMEs and discuss our findings. Firm size is found to be significant; we argue that New Zealand has too few growth firms rather than too many small firms and we suggest that barriers to innovation, such as access to finance, remain an issue which should be a focus for government support.

Motivation and driving forces of Turkish entrepreneurs in Switzerland

Over the past decades many Turkish immigrants have entered the Western European economies and a number of them and their descendants have started their own businesses. Gradually, Turkish entrepreneurs have become an indigenous and significant part of the local economy, in particular in the major cities of Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Although many studies have been conducted to understand the “Turkish entrepreneurship phenomenon”, especially in Germany and the Netherlands, the studies on migrant entrepreneurship have been limited in Switzerland. One reason for this limited interest may be the decreasing trend in recent years in the total entrepreneurial activity rate in Switzerland. Factors such as socio-cultural norms, government policy and the education system of the country have led people to prefer working in paid jobs rather than become entrepreneurs. Nevertheless, in these circumstances Turkish entrepreneurs in Switzerland attract attention by their high level of entrepreneurial activities. The present article aims to investigate the phenomenon of Turkish entrepreneurship in two major cities in Switzerland, Geneva and Zurich, which have high levels of foreign population, by addressing the motivation and driving forces of Turkish immigrants to become entrepreneurs. The data and information used for the evaluation are based on in-depth personal interviews held in 2005 among Turkish entrepreneurs in the service and catering sectors. The results of our study show that, following the immigration wave in the 1980s, entrepreneurship among Turkish immigrants emerged in the 1990s and accelerated in the 2000s. The results of our study also show that, unlike the general trend in Switzerland, the movement from wage employment to self-employment is very common among Turkish immigrants.

Operationalizing opportunities in entrepreneurship research: use of data envelopment analysis

Despite the impressive development of substantive theories in entrepreneurship, without the development of measurement theories, further advancement of the field is problematic. In particular, the notion of opportunities, central to entrepreneurship research, requires adequate macro-level operationalization. We demonstrate how to employ data envelopment analysis (DEA) to operationalize not only innovative opportunities, but also technological arbitrage opportunities. We provide an illustrative example based on a sample of 66 countries during the period of 1993–2002. We include estimates of innovative and arbitrage opportunities for possible use by other scholars, discuss the promise and limitations of such estimates, demonstrate how both innovative and arbitrage opportunities correlate with the rates of entrepreneurial activity, and suggest several possible directions for future research.

Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity: 1996-2008

Overall, the 2008 entrepreneurial activity rate increased slightly over 2007. An average of 0.32 percent of the adult population (or 320 out of 100,000 adults) created a new business each month - representing approximately 530,000 new businesses per month - as compared to 0.30 percent in 2007. While entrepreneurial activity has remained generally consistent over the past decade, the Kauffman Index points out important shifts in the demographic and geographic composition of new entrepreneurs across the country. The annual Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, a leading indicator of new business activity, provides the earliest documentation of new business development across the United States. Analyzing matched monthly data from the Current Population Survey since 1996, the Kauffman Index allows comparisons of new business creation over time.Key findings include:• The oldest age group - ages 55 to 64 - experienced a big increase in business-creation rates from 2007 to 2008 and, as a result, has the highest level of business creation (0.36 percent).• The activity rate increased sharply for immigrants in 2008 - from 0.46 percent in 2007 to 0.53 percent in 2008 - further widening the gap between immigrant and native-born rates. Although the increase in entrepreneurship rates among immigrants was driven entirely by low- and medium-income-potential types of businesses, immigrants also are more likely than U.S. natives to start high-income-potential types of businesses.• Latinos’ entrepreneurial activity rate increased from 0.40 percent in 2007 to 0.48 percent in 2008, continuing an upward trend that began in 2005. Over the thirteen years of the study, Latinos have had the highest percentage increase in entrepreneurial activity (from 0.33 percent in 1996 to 0.48 percent in 2008).• Asian-Americans’ entrepreneurial activity also increased sharply, from 0.29 percent in 2007 to 0.35 percent in 2008. Non-Latino white business-creation rates increased slightly, while African-American rates slightly declined.• Entrepreneurial activity increased from 2007 rates for both men and women (from 0.41 percent to 0.42 percent for men and from 0.20 percent to 0.24 percent for women).• With the exception of the Midwest, all regions saw increased entrepreneurial activity from 2007 to 2008. • The states with the highest 2008 entrepreneurial activity rates were Georgia, New Mexico, Montana, Arizona, Alaska and California.• The states with the lowest entrepreneurial activity rates were Pennsylvania, Missouri, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Iowa and Ohio.• Among the United States’ fifteen largest metropolitan statistical areas, Atlanta had the highest entrepreneurial rate (0.74 percent) in 2008. Philadelphia had the lowest rate (0.16 percent).

LOCAL LABOR MARKET DYNAMICS AND SELF-EMPLOYMENT IN RURAL NEW ENGLAND

As rates of self-employment and entrepreneurial activity grow in the U.S., sociologists are beginning to consider the causes and consequences of this form of employment more seriously. While the sociological contributions to entrepreneurial research take seriously the social context in which self-employment occurs, few studies focus explicitly on the effects of social and economic contexts on rates of self-employment in particular regions. I fill this gap by examining the effects of a variety of local labor-market, population, and economic characteristics on county-level self-employment rates in three predominantly rural states: Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. I find that counties with higher proportions of their labor forces in extractive industries and that have experienced greater declines in the primary sector had higher rates of poverty and unemployment; however, self-employment is negatively related to county-level poverty rates, indicating that self-employment may provide opportunities for those in rural counties undergoing economic transformations.

Enterprise and Public Policy: A Review of Labour Government Intervention in the United Kingdom

Despite the rapid growth of the small and medium-sized enterprise sector since the 1970s, rates of entrepreneurial activity in the UK remain moderate by international standards. Since its arrival in 1997 the Labour government in the UK has taken steps to tackle barriers to entrepreneurship by addressing economic, political, legal, and cultural issues. Through a review of key literature and policy documents, we seek to shed light on how the Labour government has shaped its entrepreneurship and enterprise-development policy agenda. It is found that, although there has been limited improvement in closing the enterprise gap, the Labour government does appear to have put in place a number of measures that are aimed at harnessing the long-term drivers of future enterprise, particularly catalysing the required cultural changes through the education system. It is suggested that enterprise policy making is diverse and has shifted away from small-business policy into a broader interpretation of entrepreneurship, although there inevitably continues to be significant overlap across the two areas. Furthermore, it is argued that enterprise initiatives are leading to the government taking quite radical routes in shaping its policies, becoming a bigger risk taker, and operating in a quasiprivate sector role. It is concluded that the increasing sophistication and specificity of policy instruments means that further research is required to understand how policies interact with each other.

Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity: State Report 2005

Based on data from the 2005 Current Population Surveys (CPS), the state report of the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity offers insight into variation in entrepreneurial activity by state. Like the national report of the Kauffman Index, the state report measures the proportion of non-business-owning adults who create a new business each month.The 2005 report indicates that the five states with the highest rates of entrepreneurial activity were Vermont, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, while the five states with the lowest rates included Delaware, West Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. Atlanta, Riverside, San Francisco, and Houston had the highest entrepreneurship rates among the fifteen largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the United States, while the large MSAs with the lowest startup rates included Detroit, Philadelphia, Boston, and Seattle.Overall, the Mountain and Pacific states boasted higher rates of entrepreneurial activity. The Middle Southern and Midwestern states, on the other hand, were characterized by lower startup rates.

Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity: 1996-2007

The rate of entrepreneurial activity among women dropped sharply in 2007 while the activity rate among men and immigrants surged, according to a national assessment of entrepreneurial activity by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. According to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, the only annual study to measure business startup activity for the entire United States adult population at the individual owner level, 495,000 new businesses per month were started in 2007 with 0.30 percent of the adult population (or 300 out of 100,000 adults) involved in the startup process. This entrepreneurial activity rate is a slight increase over the 2006 rate of 0.29 percent.Several surprising findings from the Kauffman Index are:1. Immigrants far outpaced native-born Americans in entrepreneurial activity, increasing from 0.37 percent in 2006 to 0.46 percent in 2007. Immigrants are now substantially more likely to start businesses than are native-born Americans, which remained constant at 0.27 percent.2. Men are now twice as likely as women to start a business each month, a larger differential than in any previous year of the KIEA study. For men, the entrepreneurial activity rate increased from 0.35 percent in 2006 to 0.41 percent in 2007. The rate decreased from 0.23 percent to 0.20 percent for women.3. The entrepreneurial activity rate among Latinos increased from 0.33 percent in 2006 to 0.40 percent in 2007, the largest increase for any major ethnic or racial group.Data for the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity are derived from the monthly Current Population Survey (CPS), a national population survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The detailed demographic information available allows researchers to estimate rates of entrepreneurial activity by race, education, region, age and immigrant status and is the most up-to-date estimate of new business activity and the only estimate of business creation by detailed demographic group. Unlike other studies that primarily capture the creation of new employer firms, the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity captures all adults 20-64 who initially start a business, including those who own incorporated or unincorporated businesses and those who are employers and non-employers. Capturing new business owners in their first month of significant business activity serves as a leading indicator of new business creation in the United States.

Entrepreneurial Activity and Entrepreneurial Environment? A Reexamination of the GEM's Approach

In this paper we re-examine the measurement of entrepreneurial activity and provide a model-based approach at measure. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) project has been a key addition to our ability to measure and compare rates of entrepreneurial activity. But even though there is consensus about the importance of measuring entrepreneurial activity, researchers differ about the appropriate ways to measure the breadth of entrepreneurial activity. We analyze the GEM's measure of entrepreneurial activity (TEA), address limitations in its design and development and provide an alternative measure of entrepreneurial activity, which includes entrepreneurial environment. We use a model-based approach to measure entrepreneurship activity and our results indicate that the model provides support for the combined use of entrepreneurial activity and entrepreneurial environment.

Institutions, Networks and Entrepreneurship Development in Russia: An Exploration

In this paper we explore the ways in which institutions and networks influence entrepreneurial development in Russia. By utilizing new Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) data collected in 2001, we investigate the effects of the weak institutional environment in Russia in terms of three dimensions: on the rate of productive entrepreneurial activity measured in terms of start-ups and existing business owners; on the characteristics of business owners; and on business financing. In addition, the analysis explores the effectiveness of Russia’s informal networks for circumventing the weak institutional environment for business development. Our results indicate that Russia’s business owners share many of the same characteristics as business owners in advanced western countries, though education is not associated with entrepreneurial activity. However, the main differences are in the sources of financing and the fact that relatively few individuals engage in productive entrepreneurial activity. Our results support the notion of the limited effectiveness of Russia’s networks for supporting entrepreneurial activity in its weak institutional environment.

Explaining female and male entrepreneurship at the country level

Using Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data for 29 countries this study investigates the (differential) impact of several factors on female and male entrepreneurship at the country level. These factors are derived from three streams of literature, including that on entrepreneurship in general, on female labour force participation and on female entrepreneurship. The paper deals with the methodological aspects of investigating (female) entrepreneurship by distinguishing between two measures of female entrepreneurship: the number of female entrepreneurs and the share of women in the total number of entrepreneurs. The first measure is used to investigate whether variables have an impact on entrepreneurship in general (influencing both the number of female and male entrepreneurs). The second measure is used to investigate whether factors have a differential relative impact on female and male entrepreneurship, i.e. whether they influence the diversity or gender composition of entrepreneurship. Findings indicate that – by and large – female and male entrepreneurial activity rates are influenced by the same factors and in the same direction. However, for some factors (e.g. unemployment, life satisfaction) we find a differential impact on female and male entrepreneurship. The present study also shows that the factors influencing the number of female entrepreneurs may be different from those influencing the share of female entrepreneurs. In this light it is important that governments are aware of what they want to accomplish (i.e. do they want to stimulate the number of female entrepreneurs or the gender composition of entrepreneurship) to be able to select appropriate policy measures.