The Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship: Not just a Matter of Personality

Why do entrepreneurship rates differ so markedly by gender? Using data from a large representative German household panel, we investigate to what extent personality traits, human capital, and the employment history influence the start-up decision and can explain the gender gap in entrepreneurship. A...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:CESifo economic studies 2015-03, Vol.61 (1), p.202-238
Main Authors: Caliendo, Marco, Fossen, Frank M, Kritikos, Alexander, Wetter, Miriam
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Economic impact
Economic theory
Education
Employment
Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship
Gender
Gender differences
Gender studies
Germany
Human capital
Impact analysis
Risk aversion
Western Europe
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Summary:Why do entrepreneurship rates differ so markedly by gender? Using data from a large representative German household panel, we investigate to what extent personality traits, human capital, and the employment history influence the start-up decision and can explain the gender gap in entrepreneurship. Applying a decomposition analysis, we observe that the higher risk aversion among women explains a large share of the entrepreneurial gender gap. We also find an education effect contributing to the gender difference. In contrast, the Big Five model and the current employment state have effects in the opposite direction, meaning that the gender gap in entrepreneurial entry would be even larger if women had the same scores and the same employment status as men.
ISSN:1610-241X
1612-7501
DOI:10.1093/cesifo/ifu023