The Missing Silver Bullet for Women Entrepreneurs

©iStock/scanrall

Even where women are starting businesses at relatively high rates, their profits and growth are constrained relative to their male counterparts.  Take Asia and the Pacific.  They stand to gain 70 percent in per capita income within roughly two generations by eliminating gender disparities in employment, including in the area of entrepreneurship. Increasing women’s entrepreneurship is good for national banks and citizens’ wallets alike.

In Cambodia, for example, less than 1 percent of businesses with more than 10 employees are owned by women, and women’s entrepreneurship rates in South Asia are among the lowest in the world, with less than one in 10 SMEs owned by women. 

What explains this persistent gender gap in entrepreneurship across the region, how can it be overcome, and does it matter?

Read more about the missing silver bullet for women entrepreneurs.