Cross-cultural analysis of gender gap in entrepreneurship

Abstract

Women entrepreneurs have progressively gained more space in what is mostly a man-dominated business world. However, a considerable gender gap in the likelihood of starting a business venture still exists in most countries in the world. Such gap can vary depending on the country and on its socio-cultural, legal and economic conditions among others. In this paper, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and the Human Development Index of 55 countries are tested in order to identify what factors have a positive effect on the gender gap. Results indicate that the most influential factor is the Human Development index, meaning that the more developed a country is, the lower the gender gap in the entrepreneurship is. In addition, the results also indicate that a lower level of gender gap is also observed in rather individualistic, pragmatic and risk-adverse cultures.