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The Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship: Not Just a Matter of Personality

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  • Marco Caliendo
  • Frank Fossen
  • Alexander Kritikos
  • Miriam Wetter

Abstract

Why do entrepreneurship rates differ so markedly by gender? Using data from a large, representative German household panel, we investigate to what extent personality traits, human capital, and the employment history influence the start-up decision and can explain the gender gap in entrepreneurship. Applying a decomposition analysis, we observe that the higher risk aversion among women explains a large share of the entrepreneurial gender gap. We also find an education effect contributing to the gender difference. In contrast, the Big Five model and the current employment state have effects in the opposite direction, meaning that the gender gap in entrepreneurial entry would be even larger if women had the same scores and the same employment status as men.

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Caliendo & Frank Fossen & Alexander Kritikos & Miriam Wetter, 2014. "The Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship: Not Just a Matter of Personality," CESifo Working Paper Series 4803, CESifo Group Munich.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_4803
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Luis Alejandro Lopez-Agudo & Oscar David Marcenaro Gutierrez & Helena Ferreira-Marques, 2016. "Gender, institutions and educational achievement: a cross country comparison," Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación volume 11,in: José Manuel Cordero Ferrera & Rosa Simancas Rodríguez (ed.), Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación 11, edition 1, volume 11, chapter 20, pages 383-400 Asociación de Economía de la Educación.
    2. Fossen, Frank M. & König, Johannes, 2015. "Public health insurance and entry into self-employment," Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 112934, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    3. Marco Caliendo & Steffen Künn, 2015. "Getting back into the labor market: the effects of start-up subsidies for unemployed females," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(4), pages 1005-1043, October.
    4. Caliendo, Marco & Künn, Steffen & Weißenberger, Martin, 2016. "Personality traits and the evaluation of start-up subsidies," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 87-108.
    5. repec:mth:csbm88:v:3:y:2016:i:2:p:159-180 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Werner Bönte & Sandro Lombardo & Diemo Urbig, 2016. "Economics meets Psychology:Experimental and self-reported Measures of Individual Competitiveness," Schumpeter Discussion Papers SDP16006, Universitätsbibliothek Wuppertal, University Library.
    7. repec:kap:sbusec:v:48:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s11187-016-9793-y is not listed on IDEAS
    8. repec:bla:devpol:v:35:y:2017:i:2:p:197-228 is not listed on IDEAS

    More about this item

    Keywords

    entrepreneurship; gender gap; personality; decomposition analysis;

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups

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