How Does Female Entrepreneurship Affect Happiness?
How Does Female Entrepreneurship Affect Happiness?

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the correlation between female entrepreneurship and happiness withinthe Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. The study uses a panel data model with two independentvariables measuring female entrepreneurship and five control variables measuring the determinants of happiness.The method used for analysis is the panel fixed effects of the method of moments quantile regression (MM-QR) toexamine data from nine ASEAN countries between 2006 and 2021. MM-QR can capture the location and scale of theconditional distribution of the dependent variable, making it suitable for studying the heterogeneous effects of femaleentrepreneurship on happiness across happiness quantiles. This approach controls for unobserved time-invariantheterogeneity, reducing omitted variable bias in cross-sectional studies. The MM-QR approach is rigorous and robustfor analysing the complex relationship between female entrepreneurship and happiness in ASEAN countries. The maincontribution of this study is to shed light on the relationship between female entrepreneurship and happiness, whichreinforces and supports comprehensive development in emerging countries. The findings suggest that policymakersand practitioners can benefit from supporting female entrepreneurship by implementing policies and programs thatprovide access to education, training, mentorship, and financing. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance ofthe gender development index (GDI) as a determinant of happiness in ASEAN countries.

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