Entrepreneurial activity at the early stages in Central and Eastern European countries: Individual characteristics and the gender gap
Entrepreneurial activity at the early stages in Central and Eastern European countries: Individual characteristics and the gender gap

Summary/Abstract: This study examines the factors influencing entrepreneurial activity at the early stages and the contribution of these factors to the gender gap in entrepreneurship in the seven Central and Eastern European countries. Using Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2017 data, the author estimate logit models for three stages of the entrepreneurial process (potential entrepreneur, nascent entrepreneur, and early-stage entrepreneur) and apply Fairlie's decomposition method for calculat-ing the contributions of variables in the gender gap. The study finds that individual demographic and entrepreneur-ship-related traits are influential determinants of the likelihood of being an entrepreneur at the early stages of business. Additionally, women are less likely to engage in all three stages of entrepreneurial activity in all countries. The decomposition analysis shows that the overall gender gaps range from 2.6 to 6.1 percentage points across the three stages of entre-preneurship. Gender disparities in explana-tory variables explain 26.2 percent to 43.4 percent of these gaps. Factors such as start-up skills, higher household income, knowing other entrepreneurs, and employ-ment significantly explain both entrepre-neurial activity and the gender gap. Never-theless, the extent of their effect is slightly different in the entrepreneurial phases.

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