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Where Are The Women Entrepreneurs? Business Ownership Growth By Gender Across The American Urban Landscape

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  • Tessa Conroy
  • Stephan Weiler

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="ecin12224-abs-0001"> This study identifies the determinants of growth for male and female business ownership in a subset of U.S. counties. The results indicate that there are important characteristic and behavioral differences between the male and female populations in each county that affect regional changes in business ownership for each gender. In particular, the education level of males and females as well as the local family structure impact the propensity for firms owned by each gender differently. A Blinder-Oaxaca type decomposition, a novel approach in the context of regional outcomes, demonstrates that although the effect of characteristic differences is larger, the behavioral differences are key to narrowing the gender disparity in business ownership . ( JEL L26, R2, R3)

Suggested Citation

  • Tessa Conroy & Stephan Weiler, 2015. "Where Are The Women Entrepreneurs? Business Ownership Growth By Gender Across The American Urban Landscape," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 53(4), pages 1872-1892, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecinqu:v:53:y:2015:i:4:p:1872-1892
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    Cited by:

    1. Tessa Conroy & Sarah A. Low, 2022. "Opportunity, necessity, and no one in the middle: A closer look at small, rural, and female‐led entrepreneurship in the United States," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(1), pages 162-196, March.
    2. Deller, Steven & Conroy, Tessa, 2015. "An Exploratory Analysis of Women Farmers and Rural Economic Growth and Development," Staff Paper Series 580, University of Wisconsin, Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    3. Tessa Conroy & Stephan Weiler, 2019. "Local and social: entrepreneurs, information network effects, and economic growth," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 62(3), pages 681-713, June.
    4. Tessa Conroy & Austin Landini & Mary McDermott, 2026. "The rise of nonemployer businesses in the United States: an analysis by geography," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 66(3), pages 1263-1288, March.
    5. Cai, Zhengyu & Winters, John V., 2017. "Self-employment differentials among foreign-born STEM and non-STEM workers," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 371-384.
    6. Schmidt, Claudia & Goetz, Stephan J. & Tian, Zheng, 2021. "Female farmers in the United States: Research needs and policy questions," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    7. Tessa Conroy & Steven Deller & Philip Watson, 2021. "Regional income inequality: a link to women-owned businesses," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 189-207, January.
    8. Steven C. Deller & Tessa Conroy & Philip Watson, 2017. "Women business owners: a source of stability during the great recession?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(56), pages 5686-5697, December.
    9. Tessa Conroy & Sarah A. Low, 2022. "Entrepreneurship, Broadband, and Gender: Evidence from Establishment Births in Rural America," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 45(1), pages 3-35, January.
    10. Chad Chriestenson & Dawn Thilmany, 2020. "Do factors contributing to appearance and success of conservation referenda in the West differ from those found in other regions of the United States?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 65(1), pages 83-104, August.
    11. Claudia Schmidt & Steven C. Deller & Stephan J. Goetz, 2024. "Women farmers and community well‐being under modeling uncertainty," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 46(1), pages 275-299, March.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • R2 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis
    • R3 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location

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