The Environment for Women's Entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa

by Nadereh Chamlou, Leora Klapper, Silvia Muzi

Overview

The commonly held perception is that businesses owned by women in the Middle East and North Africa are small and informal, that they're less sophisticated, and that they're huddled in low-value-added sectors. In fact, as The Environment for Women's Entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa shows, there is very little difference between male- and female-owned firms. Female-owned firms in the region are as well-established, productive, technologically savvy, and connected to global markets as male-owned firms.

Although there are many similar characteristics and performance levels between male- and female-owned firms in the region, the book notes that women's entrepreneurship isn't reaching its potential, despite an investment climate that is much less gendered than suspected. With a significant increase in women's educational level-in 11 out of 18 countries in the region women outnumber men in universities-and the strong economic rights women have in Islam, women's entrepreneurship can become a far greater engine for growth and diversification than expected in the past. This potential needs to be exploited vigorously. Reforming the investment climate to benefit all players is one important action. The second would be to remove or mitigate legal and social barriers women face outside the business environment, which act as hurdles to their economic and social empowerment.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940000194607
Publisher:	World Bank Publications
Publication date:	06/20/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB

Table of Contents

Preface     ix
Acknowledgments     xi
Abbreviations     xii
Overview     xiii
The Middle East's Economic Challenges     1
Recent Developments     2
The Challenges     4
Female Entrepreneurs Can Become an Engine of Growth     5
How the Report Is Organized     7
Historical Perspective on Women's Economic Activity in the Middle East and North Africa     8
Female-Owned Firms Defy the Expected     11
More Women Are Individual Owners Than Expected     12
Female-Owned Firms Are Large and Well-Established     13
Female-Owned Firms Participate in the Global Economy     16
Women Employ More Educated Workers and More Women     17
Female- and Male-Owned Firms Have Similar Productivity     20
Data and Methodology     22
Investment Climate Barriers to Female-Owned Firms     25
Investment Climate Barriers Are Not Particularly Gendered     26
The Nongendered Business Environment Raises Questions about the Scarcity of Female Entrepreneurs     31
Country-Specific Results on Perceived Investment Climate Barriers     32
Is It More Difficult to Start Female-Owned Firms?     39
Attitudes toward WorkingWomen May Hinder Women's Entrepreneurship     39
Gender-Neutral Obstacles to Doing Business Can Hit Female Entrepreneurs Harder     46
Business and Economic Laws Are Not a Problem for Female Entrepreneurship-Other Laws Are     49
How to Boost Female Entrepreneurship     57
Reduce Barriers to All Firms     58
Address Gendered Social Norms and Differential Treatment under the Law     58
Next Steps     60
Appendixes
Perceptions and Female Employment: Methodology and Empirical Results     61
Business Laws in Middle Eastern and North African Countries     69
Tables
Distribution of Male- and Female-Owned Firms, by Size and Average Years of Experience     14
Distribution of Male- and Female-Owned Firms, by Sector and Location     15
Workforce Composition, by Education     18
Workforce Composition, by Skill Level of Position     18
Sample Composition of World Bank Enterprise Survey Data for the Middle East and North Africa     22
Percentage of Male- and Female-Owned Firms Reporting the Actual Occurrence of Selected Constraints     28
Percentage of Male- and Female-Owned Firms Reporting Investment Climate Constraints as Major or Very Severe Obstacles to Business Operation and Growth, by Gender of Owner and Country     36
Country-Level and Regional Characteristics     40
Attitudes toward Working Women Are Less Positive in the Middle East Than in Most Other Developing Regions     43
Self-Employment Is about as Common in the Middle East as in Other Regions     46
Key Employment Statistics and Governance Measures     63