The Normative Context for Women’s Participation in Entrepreneruship: A Multicountry Study

Building on Global Entrepreneurship Monitor research, this study examines the impact of specific norms supporting women’s entrepreneurship on the relative rates of women to men engaged in entrepreneurship in different countries. These specific norms are themselves related to both a country’s general support for entrepreneurship and its level of gender equality. Countries with higher overall levels of entrepreneurial activity also tended to evidence higher relative proportions of female participation. These findings are still seen when controlling for the substantial effect of countries’ economic development in shaping patterns of entrepreneurial activity.