Gender Discrimination, Entrepreneurial Talent and Self-Employment

The trend of female self-employment in Italy is stable, with a low level of participation which confirms the prediction of economic theory on discrimination. We contend that gender discrimination alters the distribution of entrepreneurial talent between employees and self-employed workers. This give...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Small business economics 2005-03, Vol.24 (2), p.131-142
Main Authors: Rosti, Luisa, Chelli, Francesco
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business studies
Data analysis
Discrimination
Economic theory
Empirical research
Employees
Employers
Employment
Employment discrimination
Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship
Females
Gender
Gender differences
Gender discrimination
Human capital
Italy
Labor market
Labor markets
Labour force
Labour market structure
Males
Markov analysis
Men
Opportunity costs
Self employment
Self-employed workers
Sex discrimination
Small and medium sized enterprises
Small business
Studies
Time series
Unemployment
Wages & salaries
Women
Workers
Working women
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Summary:The trend of female self-employment in Italy is stable, with a low level of participation which confirms the prediction of economic theory on discrimination. We contend that gender discrimination alters the distribution of entrepreneurial talent between employees and self-employed workers. This gives rise to the prediction that the self-employed women are less likely to survive when self-employed than men because the lesser entrepreneurial talent of women will increase their risk of failure. Applying Markovian analysis to ISTAT's labor market transition matrices we verify this prediction: Many women try to set up on their own, but they fail to remain self-employed both because their lesser entre-preneurial talent and because they try to become entrepreneurs without any previous experience of work.
ISSN:0921-898X
1573-0913
DOI:10.1007/s11187-003-3804-5