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on Entrepreneurship |
| By: | Behr, Daniela Monika; Xi, Yue |
| Abstract: | Despite significant strides toward gender equality, women around the world continue to encounter systemic obstacles that hinder their entrepreneurial success. This paper systematically reviews the literature on the barriers female entrepreneurs face and the solutions proposed to overcome these challenges. It discusses institutional factors, financial factors, human capital factors, and social and cultural factors. The literature overview is complemented by a series of stylized facts that illustrate how overcoming some of these existing barriers is correlated with improved women’s entrepreneurship and female labor force participation, drawing on the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law database as well as the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys. The findings underscore the need for creating an enabling environment where women can thrive as entrepreneurs. |
| Date: | 2026–01–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11281 |
| By: | Jose Joaquin Lopez (University of Memphis); Ashantha Ranasinghe (University of Alberta) |
| Abstract: | We analyze micro-scale businesses in Mexico and find large gender gaps in sales, profit, and access to finance. Accounting for differences in education and entrepreneurial commitment, women-owned firms perform worse and receive less financing than comparable men-owned firms. We interpret these patterns in a model economy where individuals with different managerial abilities choose between wage work and entrepreneurship, while women face discrimination in labor and credit markets. The model replicates observed gender differences in occupations and capital use. Equalizing credit access sharply reduces gender gaps in entrepreneurial earnings, but implies only modest aggregate gains on productivity and output. Size-dependent taxes or income subsidies generate smaller impacts or far more costly gains. |
| Keywords: | informality; gender; micro-firms; misallocation; finance |
| JEL: | J16 O10 O40 O50 |
| Date: | 2025–12–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:albaec:021996 |
| By: | Amin, Mohammad; Islam, Asif Mohammed; Padhi, Debasmita |
| Abstract: | The business practices of unregistered or informal enterprises can significantly affect their performance and the overall productivity of the sector. However, very little is known about the prevalence of business practices and the sorts of factors that influence their adoption among informal enterprises. This is especially the case in the context of fragile economies. The present paper attempts to fill this gap in the literature by analyzing the adoption of business practices among informal enterprises in the Central African Republic, which serves as a unique context – high informality, low education attainment, and recurrent shocks including conflict and the AIDS epidemic. While several factors correlated with the decision to adopt business practices are uncovered, the focus is on the education level of the business owner or manager. A conservative estimate suggests that relative to no education or up to primary education, secondary or higher education increases the likelihood of adopting one or more of the nine business practices considered by about 10 percentage points. The number of business practices adopted increases by 0.66 (against a mean value of 1.7). The paper shows that the positive impact of education is most likely causal using entropy balancing, inverse probability weighting, the Oster test for selection on observables, and the impact of the AIDS epidemic in the latter half of the 1990s on school enrollment as an instrument for the education level of current business owners. The analysis also finds significant heterogeneities in the relationship between education and business practices. Belonging to a business association and a business owner’s past experience in the industry may compensate for a lack of formal education, while the use of electricity, manufacturing versus services activity, and location in Bangui city versus Berberati complement and magnify the positive effect of education. The paper discusses several avenues for future research. |
| Date: | 2026–01–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11280 |
| By: | Matěj BAJGAR; Keiko ITO; Jonathan TIMMIS |
| Abstract: | We study how R&D spillovers propagate through buyer–supplier networks. The R&D tax credit for large firms in Japan—originally based on incremental increases in R&D expenditures—was revised in 2003 to cover total R&D expenditures. This reduced the cost of marginal R&D outlays for large firms below the ceiling on R&D expenditure, but not for large firms above the ceiling or for SMEs. In a difference-in-differences setting, we find that the reform increased R&D expenditure, innovative output and sales of the treated firms. We further present evidence of positive forward spillovers to downstream firms: the reform led to productivity increases among firms that had a greater share of suppliers treated by the reform. Conversely, we do not find any evidence of backward spillovers to upstream firms. We also do not find any robust effects of the reform on the R&D expenditure and economic performance of Japanese firms' overseas affiliates. |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:25127 |
| By: | Camarero Garcia, Sebastian; Henao, Leandro |
| Abstract: | This study uses administrative data to evaluate a 2013 Spanish reform that subsidized social security contributions for young self-employed workers. Eligibility was granted to men younger than 30 and women younger than 35 with an active self-employment spell in February 2013. The policy did not extend self-employment duration or increase overall employment probabilities. Male entrepreneurs experienced no significant earnings changes, while women who returned to dependent employment within two years gained about 14% in monthly wages, mainly through transitions into higher-paying service sector jobs. These gains were concentrated among women at higher risk of unemployment, such as mothers and those in rural areas. |
| Abstract: | Diese Studie nutzt administrative Daten zur Evaluation einer spanischen Reform aus dem Jahr 2013, die Sozialversicherungsbeiträge für junge Selbständige subventionierte. Anspruchsberechtigt waren Männer unter 30 Jahren und Frauen unter 35 Jahren mit einer aktiven Phase der Selbständigkeit im Februar 2013. Die Maßnahme verlängerte weder die Dauer der Selbständigkeit noch erhöhte sie die allgemeinen Beschäftigungswahrscheinlichkeiten. Männliche Selbständige verzeichneten keine signifikanten Einkommensänderungen, während Frauen, die innerhalb von zwei Jahren in abhängige Beschäftigung zurückkehrten, einen Zuwachs der monatlichen Löhne von rund 14% erzielten, hauptsächlich durch Übergänge in höher entlohnte Tätigkeiten im Dienstleistungssektor. Diese Einkommensgewinne konzentrierten sich auf Frauen mit einem höheren Arbeitslosigkeitsrisiko, etwa Mütter und Frauen in ländlichen Regionen. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship, youth unemployment, regression discontinuity, propensity score matching |
| JEL: | J21 J24 J68 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:334529 |
| By: | Liudmila Alekseeva; Silvia Dalla Fontana; Caroline Genc; Hedieh Rashidi Ranjbar |
| Abstract: | This paper asks whether, in the age of online communications, geographical clustering and in-person interactions are still essential for the soft information collection by venture capital (VC) investors. Through event study and difference-in-differences analyses, we show that VCs break their traditional norm and invest in more distant startups, following an interruption of in-person interactions. This evolution goes along with changes in selection criteria and VCs' syndication process. Overall, our study reveals that online interactions cannot perfectly substitute for in-person meetings and helps us understand how VCs revisit their investment model and balance out the risks of remote investing. |
| Date: | 2025–02–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:msiper:778792 |
| By: | Yuji HONJO; Arito ONO; Daisuke TSURUTA |
| Abstract: | This study examines how regional financial development influences new firm creation and growth in Japan. Using prefecture–year panel data from 2007 to 2023, we distinguish between regional equity and debt capital, proxied by the number of investment limited partnerships and bank branches, respectively. We find that regions with greater equity capital have more newly founded firms and initial public offerings, and provide suggestive evidence of stronger sales growth among young firms (firms within five years of establishment), whereas regional debt capital has no significant effect. Moreover, regional equity capital is associated with higher employment shares of medium- and large-sized young firms and lower shares of small ones, implying that regional equity capital promotes a compositional shift in new firm creation toward larger entrants. These findings are robust to potential endogeneity concerns and to alternative measures of financial development. |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:26005 |
| By: | Lei, Xinyuan; Shi, Guanming; Qiu, Huanguang; Wang, Shukun |
| Abstract: | Governments worldwide have been increasingly focused on how to foster innovation through regulatory frameworks, particularly in developing countries. In 2016, China revised the "Seed Law, " marked a shift from a control-based to a market-oriented framework. This study uses a difference-in-differences strategy to examine the impact of deregulation reform on firms' innovation in China's seed industry from 2013 to 2021. The results reveal a significant positive effect on innovation. We also found that the reform had a significantly greater impact on innovation quantity for larger firms compared to smaller ones, with results remaining robust across extensive checks. Mechanism analysis suggests that for large firms, the increase in approved varieties is driven by both short-term factors such as expanded approval channels and technology licensing, and long-term R&D investments. In contrast, for small firms, it primarily stems from short-term factors, with limited impact from long-term R&D efforts. Additionally, the reform increased innovation quantity without compromising quality for smaller firms, while further enhancing innovation quality among larger firms. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea25:360608 |
| By: | Galilea, Manuel; Farazi, Subika; Mare, Davide Salvatore |
| Abstract: | Understanding the drivers of credit constraints is essential for fostering private sector development and firm growth. This study examines the channels through which electronic payments influence firm credit constraints across 101 economies. It explores heterogeneity at the firm and aggregate levels to identify key policy and environmental factors that shape this relationship. The findings indicate that payment digitalization plays a critical role in alleviating firm credit constraints, particularly for small firms and in economies with weaker credit infrastructure and lower levels of financial development. These results support the view that electronic payments help reduce information asymmetries between firms and lenders, thereby improving lending opportunities. |
| Date: | 2026–01–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11287 |
| By: | Maryam Arif; Soban Saeed |
| Abstract: | Our study investigates the interplay between young women's empowerment and Pakistan's economic growth, focusing on how social media use enhances their businesses and drives economic advancement. We utilize a mixed-methods research design, integrating both online and offline random sampling, for our survey of 51 respondents. We also utilized existing datasets consisting of both social media usage (n = 1000) and entrepreneurship (n = 1092). Our analysis identifies distinct social media engagement patterns via unsupervised learning and applies supervised models for entrepreneurship prediction, with logistic regression outperforming all other algorithms in terms of predictive accuracy and stability. In social media use, the cluster analysis reveals that at K=2, users form tightly packed, well-separated engagement groups. The results indicate that 39.4 percent of respondents believe social media positively impacts the economy by enabling businesses to generate increased revenue. However, only 14 percent of respondents participate in entrepreneurship, highlighting a substantial gap between digital engagement and business adoption. The analysis indicates that daily social media consumption is widespread with YouTube (66.7 percent) and WhatsApp (62.7 percent) being the most frequently used platforms. Key barriers identified are online harassment, limited digital literacy, and cultural constraints in a patriarchal society such as Pakistan. Additionally, 52.9 percent of respondents are unaware of government initiatives supporting women entrepreneurs, indicating limited policy outreach. |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2512.12685 |
| By: | Botello, Hector |
| Abstract: | This study examines agricultural firm resilience during COVID-19 using administrative data covering 45, 127 firms in Ecuador from 2012-2023. We employ difference-indifferences methodology to analyze pandemic impacts across sectors and firm characteristics. We find that agricultural firms demonstrated initial pandemic resilience in 2020, outperforming other sectors by 10.3 percentage points. However, this advantage reversed during 2022-2023, when agricultural firms experienced delayed vulnerability with sales declining 13.0 percentage points more than other sectors. Within agriculture, small firms (10-49 employees) faced the worst outcomes, performing worse than both micro and large enterprises. Export-oriented firms sacrificed short-term sales performance to preserve market relationships, ultimately achieving better survival rates despite revenue losses. These temporal patterns reveal that agricultural resilience varies significantly across firm characteristics and time periods. The findings challenge uniform sectoral policies and suggest targeting small agricultural firms during extended recovery periods. Our results contribute to organizational resilience theory by demonstrating that firm-level characteristics matter more than sectoral membership for crisis outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea25:360606 |