Climbing the Entrepreneurial Ladder: The Role of Gender

14 Pages Posted: 29 Jan 2008

See all articles by Isabel Grilo

Isabel Grilo

Catholic University of Louvain

Roy Thurik

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Centre for Advanced Small Business Economics (CASBEC); Montpellier Business School; Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM); EIM Netherlands - Business and Policy Research; Tinbergen Institute

I. Verheul

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE); Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM)

Peter van der Zwan

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE)

Date Written: July 2008 1,

Abstract

We investigate whether women and men differ with respect to the steps they take in the entrepreneurial process, distinguishing between five successive steps described by the following positions: (1) "never thought about it"; (2) "thinking about starting up a business"; (3) "taking steps to start a business"; (4) "running a business for less than three years"; (5) "running a business for more than three years". This paper provides insights into the manner in which women and men climb the entrepreneurial ladder and the factors that influence their position on the ladder. We use data from the 2006 "Flash Eurobarometer survey on Entrepreneurship" consisting of more than 10,000 observations for 25 member states of the European Union, Norway, Iceland and the United States. Findings suggest that for men it is easier to climb the ladder and that this may be attributed partly to their higher tolerance of risk.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, determinants, gender, nascent entrepreneurship, ordered multinomial logit

JEL Classification: M13, O32, M, J16, L26

Suggested Citation

Grilo, Isabel and Thurik, Roy and Thurik, Roy and Verheul, Ingrid and van der Zwan, Peter, Climbing the Entrepreneurial Ladder: The Role of Gender (July 2008 1,). ERIM Report Series Reference No. ERS-2007-098-ORG, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1088219

Isabel Grilo (Contact Author)

Catholic University of Louvain ( email )

Place Montesquieu, 3
B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, 1348
Belgium
010 47 43 60 (Phone)

Roy Thurik

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Centre for Advanced Small Business Economics (CASBEC) ( email )

3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands
+31 10 408 2232 (Phone)
+31 10 408 9146 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.thurik.com

Montpellier Business School

France

Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM) ( email )

P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands

EIM Netherlands - Business and Policy Research

Postbus 7001
2701 AA Zoetermeer
Netherlands
+31 79 341 3634 (Phone)
+31 79 331 3742 (Fax)

Tinbergen Institute ( email )

Burg. Oudlaan 50
Rotterdam, 3062 PA
Netherlands

Ingrid Verheul

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) ( email )

Burgemeester Oudlaan 50
3062 PA Rotterdam, NL 3062 PA
Netherlands
+31 10 4081398 (Phone)
+31 10 4089146 (Fax)

Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM)

P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands

Peter Van der Zwan

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) ( email )

P.O. Box 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam, NL 3062 PA
Netherlands

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