Women’s Entrepreneurship in Latin America An Exploration of Current Knowledge.pdf

There is an increasing interest in entrepreneurship among policy makers, academics and practitioners.
This interest comes from the recognition that the creation of new enterprises will increase local capabilities
to bring economic growth and will help to develop the market economy. Women entrepreneurs play an increasingly important role in promoting growth and development. The entrepreneurial skills potential of women is significant because women play a predominant role in microenterprise sector. As half of the adult population, they can consistently contribute to enlarging and enforcing entrepreneurship, by demonstrating their proactive capacities and skills in pursuing their own business ventures.

This report by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) intends to introduce the discussion of gender gaps in entrepreneurship development and to explore possible actions that could effectively foster women’s entrepreneurship. It showcases results of recent fieldwork on women entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean, and finds very useful quantitative studies for a limited number of countries that allows the analysis of existing gender gaps among entrepreneurs. This study focuses on formal women-owned small businesses.

Report Content:

• A Review of Current Knowledge
• Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth
• Women Business Owners in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico: An In-Depth Analysis
• Programs that Foster Women’s Entrepreneurship: Women’s Business Networks, Access to Capital, Access to Markets, Government Programs
• Conclusions and Recommendations