Factors Contributing to the Relatively Low Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship in Russia

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is notably characterized by gender disparities, adversely impacting aggregate income and productivity. Accordingly, this study investigates the determinants of gender gaps in entrepreneurship in Russia, where the entrepreneurship gender gap, which is defined as the difference in entrepreneurial participation rates between men and women, is approximately 2%. Since the 2000s, this gap has remained relatively stable and is notably smaller than in many developed and developing countries. As such, the article highlights Russia’s relatively strong performance in fostering inclusive entrepreneurship using data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey, encompassing 197,699 observations from 33,889 individuals (55% women) between 2000 and 2019. Based on panel data regression models and incorporating a comprehensive set of independent variables, including age, education, health status, marital status, number of children, religious participation, physical exercise, trust, migration background, ethnicity, and residence in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The findings reveal that participation in physical exercise and religious events significantly predicts entrepreneurial activity by gender, offering insights for reducing gender disparities in entrepreneurship. In contrast, traditional variables such as education, marital status, and number of children exhibit negligible effects. These results remain robust across different measures of entrepreneurship and hold when differentiating between necessity-driven and opportunity-driven entrepreneurship. Therefore, the findings suggest that Russia’s experience in narrowing gender gaps in entrepreneurship may serve as a model for other countries.