UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE SERIES: ENTREPRENEURSHIP and SMEs Women’s Entrepreneurship in Eastern Europe and CIS Countries UNITED NATIONS The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. ECE/TRADE/310 OPA/AC.29/1 UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATION Sales No. E.03.II.E.3 ISBN 92-1-116815-5 Copyright© United Nations, 2002 All rights reserved Printed at United Nations, Geneva (Switzerland) _________________________________________________________________________ iii CONTENTS page List of abbreviations................................................................................................................. iv Foreword .................................................................................................................................. v PART ONE Regional perspective 1. Women’s entrepreneurship and labour market trends in transition countries (Ewa Ruminska-Zimny) .................................................................................................. 7 2. Women’s entrepreneurship: trends, motivations and barriers (Ewa Lisowska) .............. 23 PART TWO Country perspective 1. Women entrepreneurs in the Russian Federation: key problems and trends (Olga Politova).................................................................................................................. 44 2. Women entrepreneurs in the Czech Republic (Anna Putnova)........................................ 52 3. Entrepreneurship as a challenge and opportunity in Slovenia (Marta Turk).................... 57 4. Selected aspects of women’s position in Croatia (Alida Perkov)..................................... 64 5. Gender policy in Ukraine (Olga Apatenko)...................................................................... 68 PART THREE Strategic directions 1. Connecting SMEs owned and led by women to the global digital economy (Larissa Kapitsa) .............................................................................................................. 77 2. Building regional networks (Ewa Ruminska-Zimny) ..................................................... 89 3. Experiences in creating a regional network in central Europe (Lubica Mandicova) ....... 100 4. Networking through women’s NGOs: A paradigm for a learning business community (Conchita Poncini)......................................................................................... 102 ANNEX First UNECE Forum of Women Entrepreneurs: Summary .................................................... 107 iv _________________________________________________________________________ LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BSEC Black Sea Economic Cooperation CEI Central European Initiative CIS Commonwealth of Independent States CMEA (former) Council for Mutual Economic Assistance EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development EU European Union FDI foreign direct investment GDP gross domestic product ICT information and communications technology ILO International Labour Office ITU International Telecommunications Union NGO Non-governmental organization NIS Newly Independent States OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development SME Small and medium-sized enterprise TACIS Technical Assistance for the Commonwealth of Independent States (of the EU) UNCTAD United Nations Conference for Trade and Development UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNECE United Nations Economic Commission for Europe UNICEF United Nations Childrens Fund UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund for Women USAID United States Agency for International Development WTO World Trade Organization __________________________________________________________________________ v FOREWORD Women’s Entrepreneurship in Eastern Europe and CIS Countries is the first publication in the new series ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SMEs. The series aims at presenting various aspects of trends, problems and policy issues related to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in transition countries. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are an important source of growth and new jobs in market economies worldwide. In most transition countries their potential remains, however, still untapped. This relates especially to women as, despite good levels of education and high participation in the labour market, they become entrepreneurs on average twice less often as men. The gender gap in entrepreneurship is seen in all countries regardless the size of the SME sector in the economy. The UNECE Programme on Women’s Entrepreneurship aims at raising awareness of problems of women entrepreneurs, enhancing dialogue, promoting the exchange of best practices and recommending policies, supporting the development of women-run companies. The broad UNECE membership, which comprises 55 countries from Europe, North America and central Asia, provides a unique forum for such activities and facilitates contacts among stakeholder, policy makers, women entrepreneurs, non-governmental organizations and international organizations. Main activities of the UNECE include: organization of the annual Forum of Women Entrepreneurs; maintenance on the UNECE website of a virtual Portrait Gallery of Excellent Women Entrepreneurs and a Network of Women’s Business Associations, which promote role models and business contacts; work of the Team of Specialists on Women’s Entrepreneurship within the Working Party on Industry and Enterprise Development (WP.8); organization of sub-regional workshops and seminars; and demand driven advisory services, provided to governments and civil society organizations. More information on these activities can be found at www.unece.org/operact/enterp/women.htm The present volume includes selected papers prepared for the First Forum of Women Entrepreneurs (22 October 2001) and meetings of the Team of Specialists on Women’s Entrepreneurship. The volume has three parts: Part I presents a regional overview of the situation and problems of women entrepreneurs; Part II includes country experiences, and Part III discusses the importance of networks and the benefits of connecting women-run enterprises to the global digital economy. The summary of the First Forum of Women Entrepreneurs is included in the Annex. This publication was prepared by Ms. Ewa Ruminska-Zimny, Regional Adviser on Gender and Economy, under the guidance of Ms. Larissa Kapitsa, Director, Coordinating Unit for Operational Activities, with the assistance of Ms. Alison Mangin, Ms. Tatiana Apatenko and Mr. Mitja Jarh with English language editing and technical assistance. Larissa Kapitsa Director Coordinating Unit for Operational Activities vi _________________________________________________________________________ Women’s Entrepreneurship in Eastern Europe and CIS Countries__________________________ 7 PART ONE Regional Perspective WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND LABOUR MARKET TRENDS IN TRANSITION COUNTRIES by Ewa Ruminska-Zimny Regional Adviser, UNECE Entrepreneurship is at the very centre of changes in eastern Europe and in the CIS. It is an important source of job creation and opening career opportunities for men and women. There is, however, an asymmetry in access to entrepreneurship, which is also reflected in the broader trends in the labour market. Labour market trends during the 1990s indicate that although men and women were affected by the loss of job security and employment cuts, until recently women took over a large share of the adjustment costs. This could be explained by the horizontal and vertical segregation of women’s jobs but also by their position as secondary earners, inherited pattern of male dominated labour market institutions (trade unions, chambers of commerce) and policies. The latter reflected a traditional male breadwinner approach to employment despite high levels of women’s participation in the labour market in the past. As a result self-employment became for many women the only avenue for paid employment. At the same time, however, women had fewer opportunities to start their own business due to gender specific barriers in access to information, networks and collateral. Similar patterns of male advantages could be observed in other regions (Elson, 1999). Establishing gender sensitive policies supporting SMEs development is thus an important priority of economic policies in transition countries. Gender asymmetry in labour market developments Gender asymmetry was seen in employment cuts, sectoral changes of employment and access to jobs in the private sector. Data on sectoral changes and self-employment in selected countries show that they did not benefit as often as men from job opportunities in the private sector and in the most dynamic branches of the service sector. Women’s share in part-time employment increased, which could indicate a trend towards feminization of this market segment. The gender asymmetry should be seen in the context of significant differences in the economic situation, progress in reforms and policies in countries and sub-regions. Decline in employment Some countries, especially the Russian Federation and CIS countries, managed to keep employment cuts at a relatively low level, when compared to the fall of output at the expense of lower labour productivity and mounting