This paper investigates why self-employment rates of women are consistently lower than those of men. It has three focal points: it discriminates between the preference for self-employment and actual involvement in self-employment for women and men. It uses a huge data set from about 8,000 individuals across 26 countries while probit equations are estimated explaining (the preference for) self-employment. And a systematic distinction is made between different ways in which gender can influence the preference for and actual involvement in self-employment, including moderation, mediation and direct effects. Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour we investigate effects of risk attitude, social norms, locus of control, perceptions of the entrepreneurial environment as well as that of an individual’s age and educational attainment. Findings show that the lower preference of women to become self-employed largely explains their relatively low involvement in self-employment and that – other things equal – women and men who express a preference for it, have equal chances of becoming self-employed.
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Paper provided by Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam. in its series Research Paper with number
ERS-2008-003-ORG Revision_Date: 2008-07-02.