IS ENTREPRENEURSHIP THE SOLUTION FOR FEMALE EMPOWERMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

Sophia Ze Mukorera ()
Additional contact information
Sophia Ze Mukorera: University of KwaZulu Natal School of Accounting, Economics and Finance (SAEF), Pietermaritzburg Campus, South Africa

Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), 2020, vol. 25, issue 01, 1-14

Abstract: Gender inequality remains one of the most pressing socio-economic challenge in South Africa despite the presence of policy initiatives that target women for empowerment. The lack of consensus in the literature of a reliable and consistent measurement instrument of gender equality also makes it difficult to quantify and analyze female empowerment issues. The objective of the study was to estimate a measure for female empowerment, Gender Status Index, for South Africa and then use the index to analyze the relationship between entrepreneurship, economic growth and female empowerment. Using annual data from 1991 to 2017, an ARDL model of female empowerment (GSI), female entrepreneurship (Total female Self-Employment) and economic growth (Real GDP growth) was estimated. The study found that entrepreneurship has a positive impact on economic empowerment but no significant relationship on political and social empowerment. The study recommends more entrepreneurship institutions for female economic empowerment and ongoing policies initiatives that are more direct toward supporting female empowerment.

Keywords: Female empowerment; entrepreneurship; economic growth; gender status index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S108494672050003X
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:jdexxx:v:25:y:2020:i:01:n:s108494672050003x

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from

DOI: 10.1142/S108494672050003X

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE) is currently edited by Peter Koveos

More articles in Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE) from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Tai Tone Lim ().