The Inverted U-Shaped Relationship between Female Entrepreneurship and Economic Development

Nava Ashraf, Alexia Delfino, Edward L. Glaeser and Irene Solmone

AEA Papers and Proceedings, 2025, vol. 115, 500-508

Abstract: In the World Bank Enterprise Survey, the share of entrepreneurs who are women first rises and then falls with national income, while female labor force participation has the opposite U-shaped pattern. We present a model in which gender-based disadvantages, such as discrimination and household obligations, deter firm formation in poor countries and complex firm formation in rich countries. In middle-income countries, high returns to entrepreneurship offset gender-based costs, and firms remain simple. We document that female-owned firms are smaller and simpler. Larger firms are more productive. The female entrepreneurship rate is associated with female education, weak kinship ties, and Buddhism.

JEL-codes: D22 G32 J16 J22 L26 O14 Z12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/pandp.20251070 (application/pdf)
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles/materials/23191 (application/zip)
Access to full text is restricted to AEA members and institutional 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:aea:apandp:v:115:y:2025:p:500-508

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.aeaweb.org/subscribe.html

DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20251070

Access Statistics for this article

AEA Papers and Proceedings is currently edited by William Johnson and Kelly Markel

More articles in AEA Papers and Proceedings from American Economic Association Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Michael P. Albert ().