Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2018/2019 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report Amanda B. Elam, Candida G. Brush, Patricia G. Greene, Benjamin Baumer, Monica Dean, and René Heavlow GEM BABSON COLLEGE SMITH COLLEGE KOREA ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOUNDATION ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A special thank you to Jonathan Francis Carmona and Mahdi Majbouri for assistance with data analysis; to Aileen Ionescu-Somers, GEM Executive Director, and Chris Aylett, GEM Operations Manager, for coordinating the report content and production; to Donna Kelley for her insight and guidance in the writing of this report, to Martha Lanning for proofreading and copyediting, to Emily Brush for cover graphics, and to Dean Bargh for preparing the print-ready document for publication. We would also like to acknowledge the GEM national teams for overseeing the GEM Adult Population Survey and conducting the National Expert Survey, as well as contributing their local knowledge about entrepreneurship in their economies. We thank the entire GEM central administrative and technical team, the Research and Innovation Advisory Committee, and the board of directors for their oversight. Finally, we give a big thanks to Mike Herrington for his leadership as GEM’s Executive Director 2011–2018, to Michael Hay and Bill Bygrave, co-founders of GEM, and Paul Reynolds, Founding Principal Investigator. Although GEM data were used in the preparation of this report, their interpretation and use are the sole responsibility of the authors. Published by the Global Entrepreneurship Research Association, London Business School, Regents Park, London NW1 4SA, UK ISBN (ebook): 978-1-9160178-1-8 Cover art: Emilee Bee Designs Design and production: Witchwood Production House http://www.witchwoodhouse.com BBR Design http://bbrdesign.co.uk © 2019 Amanda B. Elam, Candida G. Brush, Patricia G. Greene, Benjamin Baumer, Monica Dean, René Heavlow, Babson College, Smith College, and the Global Entrepreneurship Research Association (GERA) 2 GEM Women’s Entrepreneurship Report 2018/2019 Contents Executive Summary 6 4. Impact and Performance of Women Key findings 8 Entrepreneurs 41 Implications 13 Solo entrepreneurship 41 Current employees 43 Introduction 14 Growth expectations 44 Innovation 47 Internationalization 48 1. Total Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA): Industry 49 Impact of women entrepreneurs 53 Rates and Motivation 19 TEA rates 19 5. Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Factors: Changes in TEA rates 21 Necessity-driven and opportunity-driven Societal Perceptions and Investment entrepreneurship 22 Activity 56 Changes in necessity-driven entrepreneurship 25 Entrepreneurial ecosystem influences on entrepreneurship 56 2. Individual Characteristics, Societal perceptions 57 Perceptions, and Affiliations 26 Entrepreneurial investment rates 62 Median investment amounts 63 Age 26 Investor relationship to entrepreneur 65 Education level 27 Perceptions and affiliations 29 Conclusions and Implications 68 3. Stages of the Entrepreneurial Process 33 Sponsors 70 Entrepreneurial intentions 33 Changes in intentions 34 About the Authors 72 Nascent entrepreneurship 35 Early-stage business activity 35 Established business activity 36 Appendix: Tables 74 Changes in established business activity 37 Business discontinuance 38 GEM Women’s Entrepreneurship Report 2018/2019 3 Figures Figure 1. The entrepreneurship process and GEM measures 14 Figure 2. Average TEA rates by gender and country, grouped into three levels of national income 19 Figure 3. Average TEA by gender and region 20 Figure 4. Plot of average TEA rates for women and men by income level 20 Figure 5. Entrepreneurial motivations for women entrepreneurs by region 23 Figure 6. Percentage of women’s TEA motivations in 59 economies 24 Figure 7. Average TEA rates by gender, age and region 26 Figure 8. Percentage of entrepreneurs with post-secondary degree or higher by gender and national income level 28 Figure 9. Opportunity and necessity motivation rates among women entrepreneurs by education level for those with secondary education or more 29 Figure 10. Perceptions of opportunity, startup skills, no fear of failure and personally knowing an entrepreneur for entrepreneurs by gender and region 30 Figure 11. Intentions, nascent, and early-stage business rates for women aged 18–64 by region 35 Figure 12. Established business ownership rates by gender and region 38 Figure 13. Percentage of women discontinuing a business in the past year by reason and region 39 Figure 14. Proportion of entrepreneurs who are self-employed with no current job (non-employer firms) by gender and region 42 Figure 15. Proportion of women entrepreneurs who expect to hire more than six employees in next five years by region 45 Figure 16. Proportion of women entrepreneurs with innovative offerings in 59 countries 47 Figure 17. Percentage of women entrepreneurs with sales of 25% or more to international customers by region 49 Figure 18. Industry sector participation for entrepreneurs by gender and region 50 Figure 19. Perceptions about entrepreneurship for women aged 18–64 by region 58 Figure 20. Societal support for entrepreneurship for women aged 18–64 by region 60 Figure 21. Median level of investment by gender and region 64 Figure 22. Median level of investment by gender in 59 countries 64 Figure 23. Relationship between women investors and entrepreneurs they fund by region 66 4 GEM Women’s Entrepreneurship Report 2018/2019 Tables Table 1. Economies featured in the 2018/2019 GEM Women’s Report by income level 16 Table 2. Impact of women entrepreneurs around the world 53 Table A1. Total entrepreneurial activity and motivations, rates and gender ratios for the adult population in 59 economies, grouped by region and income level 74 Table A2. Entrepreneur characteristics, perceptions and affiliations: rates and gender ratios for the adult population in 59 economies, grouped by region and income level 76 Table A3. Intentions, established business activity, discontinuance and discontinuance reasons: rates and gender ratios for the adult population in 59 economies, grouped by region and income level 80 Table A4. Percentage of TEA solo entrepreneurs, growth expectations, innovation, internationalization: rates and gender ratios, for the adult population in 59 economies, grouped by region and income level 84 Table A5. Percentage of TEA by industry sector: Rates and gender ratios for the adult population in 59 economies, grouped by region and income level 88 Table A6. Investor activity, median investment size, relationship to investee: Rates and gender ratios, for the adult population in 59 economies, grouped by region and income level 92 Table A7. Societal perceptions and support for entrepreneurship: rates and gender ratios for the adult population in 59 economies, grouped by region and income level 96 Table A8. Changes in Total Entrepreneurial Activity rates and necessity motivations: Rates and gender ratios for the adult population in 54 economies, grouped by region and income level 100 Table A9. Changes in intentions and established business activity: Rates and gender ratios for the adult population in 54 economies, grouped by region and income level 102 Table A10. Changes in entrepreneurial perceptions and support: Rates and gender ratios for the adult population in 54 economies, grouped by region and income level 104 GEM Women’s Entrepreneurship Report 2018/2019 5 Executive Summary This year marks the 20th anniversary of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) conducting entrepreneurship research in economies around the world through a system of rigorous data collection, extensive analysis, and widespread dissemination of results. Studies on women’s participation in entrepreneurial behaviors have long been a part of this project, with reports developed approximately every two years. The 2018/2019 report provides analysis from 59 economies, aggregating data from two GEM data collection cycles: 10 economies reporting in 2017 and 49 reporting in 2018. For the purpose of analysis and to allow for comparisons, these countries are grouped into three levels of national income (adapted from the World Bank classification by GNI per capita)1 and six geographic regions: East and South Asia and Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, North America, and sub-Saharan Africa. A total of 54 economies were surveyed in the GEM Women’s Entrepreneurship 2016/2017 Report and in this report, providing the basis for calculation of rate changes between the two reports. This report considers women’s entrepreneurship within the context of entrepreneurship ecosystems. The concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems has achieved importance especially with regard to policy, regional clusters, innovation systems, context, and institutional frameworks that promote and support entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship ecosystems comprise a number of interconnected elements that are mutually reinforcing, facilitating innovation and the growth of entrepreneurship.2 By nature, entrepreneurship ecosystems are dynamic; actors and institutions are interdependent in that they are influenced by, and in turn influence, aspects of the ecosystem.3 Entrepreneurship ecosystems include a conducive culture, available financing, the acquisition and development of human capital, new markets for products and services, and a range of institutional and infrastructure supports; all are factors present in the GEM ecosystem.4 Underlying most entrepreneurship ecosystem frameworks is 1 For the purposes of this report, “low-income”