Gender Gap among Microentrepreneurs in Brazil

Ana Normando and José Ornelas

No 627, Working Papers Series from Central Bank of Brazil, Research Department

Abstract: This paper estimates the gender revenue gap among Brazilian microentrepreneurs, sheds a light on the factors behind these disparities, and compares it with the formal job market. We collect payment data from all individual microentrepreneur businesses that remained open throughout the entire year of 2023, and from the owners of the businesses. The empirical approach consists of cross-section regressions comparing this revenue estimate for men and women, controlling for a set of variables, like geographic location and economic activity. Our results indicate that women microentrepreneurs have revenues 31% lower than those of men without any control. When controlling for economic activity, this gap decreases to 23%, so occupation choices account for a quarter of the original gender gap. Other controls like microentrepreneur’s age, firm’s age, and geographical location do not materially change this estimate. Prior formal job experience decreases the gender gap by 7 percentage points. We also estimate a 10% wage gender gap for the formal job market in 2023, which is 1/3 of the microentrepreneurs’ revenue gender gap.

Date: 2025-09
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