Gender differences in self-employment in Spain

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paz Rico ◽  
Bernardí Cabrer-Borrás
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Choice Model ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Explanatory Factors ◽  
Self Employment ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Binary Choice Model ◽  
Unobservable Factors

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the gender differences of self-employment in Spain. Design/methodology/approach A binary choice model is specified and estimated, using information from the Continuous Working Life Sample drawn from the registers of the Spanish Social Security. Moreover, the differences in self-employment between men and women are also analysed, through the decomposition proposed by Yun (2004). Findings The results indicate that the differences between both groups in the probability of being entrepreneurs stem from unobservable factors. The difference explained by the unobservable component is 84.12 per cent, whereas the rest, 15.88 per cent, is explained by the characteristics component. The explanatory factors of being an entrepreneur affect men and women in the same way, but to a different extent, explained mainly by factors related to gender. Originality/value This paper sets out to identify whether there are gender differences in the probability of becoming self-employed and, if there are, to quantify what part of the difference in entrepreneurship between men and women is explained by the characteristics of each gender group and what part is because of unobservable factors. From the perspective of the public authority, knowing the determinants that explain why the entrepreneurial activity is different depending on gender is fundamental in being able to reduce the entrepreneurial gap between men and women.

Contingency factors and entrepreneurship: influence in business activity

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 1685-1702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernardí Cabrer-Borrás ◽  
Paz Rico Belda ◽  
Dolores Botella Carrubi
Keyword(s):  
Choice Model ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Business Activity ◽  
Proportional Hazard ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cox Proportional Hazard ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Binary Choice Model ◽  
The Empirical Analysis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the determinants of the survival of Spanish companies. Design/methodology/approach Two approaches are used and they are complementary. The first approach analyses the determinants of survival probability. For this purpose, a binary choice model is built and estimated using a sample of companies from the main economic sectors taken from the SABI database. Likewise, the Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition is applied to quantify the difference between companies with employees and without employees and the proportion of this difference that owes to observed factors or unobserved factors. Finally, the second approach is a survival analysis carried out through the Cox proportional hazard model that identifies the determinants of the duration of business activity. Findings The results of the empirical analysis show that companies without employees present less favourable conditions for survival at all stages of their evolution than companies with employees. Originality/value The contribution of this study to the empirical literature consists in analysing the difference between companies with and without employees. Due to the structure of Spanish companies, this aspect and the determinants of such difference are essential for policymakers to increase the survival for companies.

On the effectiveness of state tax and expenditure policies to encourage entrepreneurship

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 523-548
Author(s):  
Donald Bruce ◽  
Elizabeth A. Glass ◽  
Matthew C. Harris
Keyword(s):  
Small Firms ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Entrepreneurial Performance ◽  
Self Employment ◽  
State Tax ◽  
Employment Rates

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to expand the empirical literature on state tax and expenditure policies and entrepreneurial activity in several meaningful ways. Design/methodology/approach The authors update the panel data to include several more recent years and also consider other elements of state policy. Findings The most important takeaway is that even after dealing with some of the known shortcomings of dynamic panel analysis, we are still not able to find economically meaningful impacts of state tax and expenditure policies (generally defined) on entrepreneurial performance. Research limitations/implications Earlier studies that have found statistical significance have generally been limited to extensive-margin impacts on such things as self-employment rates or counts of new or small firms. When the authors examine what policy makers actually care about – things like income and employment among entrepreneurial ventures – the authors do not find much in the way of useful policy impacts. Practical implications To be sure, the authors find entrepreneurial performance to be statistically significantly related to certain tax rates and expenditure amounts, but the magnitudes of our estimated results cast serious doubts on the usefulness of these particular policy levers for generating meaningful improvements in entrepreneurial success. Originality/value The authors’ primary contribution is to improve the empirical consideration of the time series properties of the data. The authors provide a battery of more general and robust analyses to more completely surround the question.

The perceptions of Australian senior entrepreneurs on the drivers of their entrepreneurial activity

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aron Perenyi ◽  
Roxanne Zolin ◽  
Alex Maritz
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Career Stage ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Self Employment ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Start Ups

Purpose Why is self-employment an attractive option for certain seniors and what drives seniors into business start-ups? In this study, the motivations and preferences of senior entrepreneurs in Australia, to become self-employed, by means of business start-ups, are explored. The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical basis for policy implications. Design/methodology/approach A mixed methods study is conducted. Members of the National Senior’s Association in Australia were interviewed and surveyed. The semi-structured interviews identified the key factors influencing senior entrepreneurs in relation to self-employment and entrepreneurial choices at a later career stage. The survey collected information on intentionality, motivation, skills, opportunities, success, satisfaction, participation, barriers, benefits, education and training, and perceptions of policy support for senior entrepreneurs. Findings Respondents gave an account of the prevalence of pull factors motivating their choice of an entrepreneurial career. Multivariate statistical analysis of survey responses showed that senior entrepreneurs are more driven by opportunity than necessity and are primarily internally motivated. Research limitations/implications Results of this study suggest a weak link between motivation by others and the act of start-up, but this may also imply that those seniors who are more likely to become entrepreneurs are more likely to ignore the impulses from their social context. This requires further investigation to ensure a robust identification of drivers and an elimination of contextual effects. Further research is suggested to compose a relevant model structure in different contexts and a representative sample to confirm the model outcomes. Originality/value This is the first mixed methods study of the antecedents of senior entrepreneurs’ start-up intentions in Australia. The study also uses entrepreneurial activity as opposed to intention as its dependent variable, which allows for a more accurate evaluation of antecedents to the senior entrepreneurship phenomenon.

Gender Differences in Activities and Mobility in the Netherlands, 1975 to 1990

1997 ◽  
Vol 1607 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul van Beek ◽  
Nelly Kalfs ◽  
Ursula Blom
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Time Use ◽  
Travel Behavior ◽  
Time Budget ◽  
Paid Work ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Car Use ◽  
The Difference

As in many other countries, a growing number of women in the Netherlands are entering the labor market. The difference between male and female participation in paid work is decreasing, and more men are taking care of domestic duties. It is expected that these changes will lead to growing numbers of task combiners and to more similar patterns of travel behavior for men and women. The intention of the present research is to investigate these expectations for the situation in the Netherlands. For this goal two groups of time budget data for the period from 1975 to 1990 were analyzed. The focus was on gender differences in trends in time use and mobility. The results indicate that between 1975 and 1990, the distribution of paid work and domestic work by men and women changed, more men and women were performing combinations of obligatory tasks, gender differences in mobility became smaller, and car use, both for men and for women, depended heavily on the workload of an out-of-home paid job.

Determinants of Gender Differences in Change in Pay among Job-Switching Executives

ILR Review ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 001979392093071
Author(s):  
Boris Groysberg ◽  
Paul Healy ◽  
Eric Lin
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Women Executives ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Relative Increase ◽  
Global Search ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Explanatory Factors ◽  
Pay Differences ◽  
Performance Based Compensation

The authors investigate what determines differences in change in pay between men and women executives who move to new employers. Using proprietary data of 2,034 executive placements from a global search firm, the authors observe narrower pay differences between men and women after job moves. The unconditional gap shrinks from 21.5% in the prior employer to 15% in the new employer. After controlling for typical explanatory factors, the residual gap falls by almost 30%, from 8.5% at the prior employer to 6.1% in the new placement. This change reflects a relative increase in performance-based compensation for women and a lower level of unexplained pay inequality generally in external placements. Controlling for individual fixed effects, observed women have higher pay raises than do men. Finally, the authors find suggestive evidence that pay differences may also be moderated by differences in the supply and demand for women executives.

Performance and financing strategies of female and male entrepreneurs in the Republic of Serbia

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danijela Stošic Panić
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Categorical Variables ◽  
Female Entrepreneurs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Net Profit ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The paper examines gender differences in the performance and financing strategies of female and male entrepreneurs in the Republic of Serbia. The aim of this study is to explore the gender dimension – a much under-researched aspect of entrepreneurship in the Republic of Serbia – and to link the findings with those of other environments. Design/methodology/approach To explore gender-based differences in entrepreneurial activity, a random sample of 327 units was drawn from the Serbian Business Registers Agency’s Register of Companies. In total, 101 completed questionnaires were received. The chi-square test of association was used to assess the relationship between two categorical variables, while the non-parametric Mann–Whitney U test was used to assess the statistical importance of the differences between groups of female and male entrepreneurs. The relationship between the performance and different sources of financing was assessed by multiple regression analysis. Findings The results confirm the existence of a gender gap in the net profit, employment growth rate, return on assets (ROA) and in use of various types of alternative financing sources. The evidence shows that those male entrepreneurs who use personal funds achieve lower levels of net profit and ROA compared to those who use internal business sources. Lower ROA is also achieved by those male entrepreneurs who use alternative sources of financing, relative to those who do not use these sources. Female entrepreneurs who applied for bank loans realized higher net profit value compared to those who did not apply for a loan. Moreover, female entrepreneurs who use some kind of state-supported funding achieve higher ROA than those who do not. Other gender differences found regarding the various aspects of the financing practices lacked statistical significance. Originality/value Although the generalizability of part of the findings is weakened due to the lack of statistical significance, most of the expected gender differences were found to exist at the sample level. This encourages further studies of similarities and differences between female and male entrepreneurs’ financing strategies and their impact on business performance. This is particularly important for the environments in which the gender aspect of entrepreneurial activity is under-researched.

Quantifying gender distances in education, occupation and employment

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 340-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Symeonaki ◽  
Celestine Filopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Distance Measures ◽  
Southern Europe ◽  
Raw Data ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Vertical Segregation ◽  
Over Time

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of gender in education, occupation and employment in Southern Europe and more specifically in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The goal is to provide measures that can trace gender differences with respect to their educational and employment features in these countries, explore whether these differences converge over time and compare the patterns observed in each country given their socio-economic similarities. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses raw data drawn from the European Social Survey (ESS) for the decade 2002-2012. It provides a method for quantifying gender differences in education, occupation and employment and their evolution over time based on distance measures. Findings The results reveal that gender distances in education have gradually subsided in these countries. However, occupational choices differ steadily over the years for all countries. The paper provides, therefore, solid evidence that equalizing the level of education between men and women during those years did not result in a decrease in the occupational distances between them. Moreover, based on the latest round the findings suggest that men and women are equally likely to having experienced unemployment within the last five years. Research limitations/implications Further research could be done to include results based on raw data from the seventh round of the ESS. This may provide valuable information for Spain and Portugal who did participate in this round. Social implications This research implies that more needs to be done to accelerate progress in order to achieve gender occupational equality in Southern Europe. Originality/value This paper draws attention to issues concerning gender differences in education, horizontal and vertical segregation and employment for which it provides distance measures and evidence of how they have evolved over time, based on raw data analysis from the ESS.

scholarly journals Economic freedom and veto players jointly affect entrepreneurship

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 340-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob Lihn ◽  
Christian Bjørnskov
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Government Spending ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Veto Players ◽  
Correction Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Veto Player ◽  
Self Employment ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Short Run

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how the strength of political veto players affects the long-run credibility of economic institutions and how they jointly affect entrepreneurial activity. Design/methodology/approach The authors employ an annual panel covering 30 OECD countries from 1993 to 2011. Findings An error correction model identifies a positive and significant short-run effect on self-employment from large government spending at low levels of veto player strength. A static model conversely indicates that smaller government spending is positively associated with entrepreneurship at lower levels of veto player strength in the long run. Originality/value The authors are the first to explore the interaction of economic and political institutions in the development of entrepreneurship.

Sri Lankan entrepreneurs in Australia: chance or choice?

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 782-796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramanie Samaratunge ◽  
Rowena Barrett ◽  
Tissa Rajapakse
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Influential Factors ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Local Market ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ethnic Entrepreneurship ◽  
Self Employment ◽  
Ethnic Entrepreneurs

Purpose – Ethnic entrepreneurship is, and always has been, a means of survival. However, there is limited literature on ethnic entrepreneurship in Australia and therefore, an understanding of ethnic entrepreneurs’ motivations to become self-employed. The purpose of this paper is to report the influential factors in the decision to engage in self-employment through case studies of members of Melbourne’s Sri Lankan community informed by the mixed embeddedness approach. Design/methodology/approach – The mixed embeddedness approach frames the study where the authors examine the motivations for business of five Sri Lankan entrepreneurs. Narratives are used to construct individual case studies, which are then analyzed in terms of the motivations for, resources used and challenges faced on the entrepreneurial journey. Findings – For these ethnic entrepreneurs, their entrepreneurial activity results from a dynamic match between local market opportunities and the specific ethnic resources available to them at the time of founding. The self-employment decision was not prompted by a lack of human capital but an inability to use that human capital in alternative means of employment at specific points in time. Moreover the authors highlight the importance of social and cultural capital as resources used to overcome challenges on the entrepreneurial journey. Originality/value – In this community, entrepreneurship was not a result of a lack of human capital but how it was utilized in combination with social and cultural capitals in the given opportunity structure. The mixed embeddedness approach enables the uncovering of how ethnic network ties were used in light of the opportunities available to build entrepreneurial activity.

scholarly journals Gender difference in sickness absence: Do managers evaluate men and women differently with regard to the appropriateness of sickness absence?

2019 ◽  
pp. 140349481989078
Author(s):  
Arne Mastekaasa ◽  
Harald Dale-Olsen ◽  
Tale Hellevik ◽  
Gøril K. Løset ◽  
Kjersti M. Østbakken
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Sickness Absence ◽  
Medical Condition ◽  
Effective Sample Size ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
The Difference ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Quota Sampling ◽  
Managerial Employees

Aims: Women have much higher rates of sickness absence than men, but the causes of the difference are not well understood. This study examines whether managers have more lenient attitudes towards women’s than towards men’s absence, as this might contribute to higher rates of sickness absence among women. Differences between managers and other employees are also assessed. Methods: Vignettes were used to measure attitudes towards the legitimacy of sickness absence. The vignettes consisted of brief case descriptions of individuals considering asking their physicians for sick leave, with information about the medical condition (mainly taken from the descriptions in ICPC-2), occupation and gender. Respondents judged how appropriate sickness absence was in each case. Quota sampling was used, and the effective sample size was 899 managers and 1396 other employees, with each respondent evaluating either four or six vignettes. Generalised ordinal logistic regression was used. Results: The gender of the vignette person had no effect on the managers’ evaluations of the appropriateness of sickness absence. Irrespective of the gender of the vignette person, however, managers were generally more restrictive than non-managers. Conclusions: Different attitudes on the part of managers towards sickness absence in men and women do not seem to contribute to gender differences in sickness absence, but managers are generally more restrictive compared to non-managerial employees.

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