Description: What Explains Big Gender Disparities in India? Local Industrial Structures and Female Entrepreneurship

Cover Image

QR Code

What Explains Big Gender Disparities in India? Local Industrial Structures and Female Entrepreneurship

Despite rapid economic growth, gender disparities in women's economic participation have remained deep and persistent in India. What explains these huge gender disparities? Is it poor infrastructure, limited education, and gender composition o...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Ghani, Ejaz, Kerr, William R., O'Connell, Stephen D.
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2013
Subjects:	ADB ARCHITECTURE AUTOMOBILE BIOTECHNOLOGY BUSINESS ACTIVITIES BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT BUSINESS LEADER BUSINESS LEADERS BUSINESSES CITIES CITY SIZE COMMERCE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE COMPETITIVENESS COMPUTERS CONNECTIVITY CONSTRUCTION CONSUMER MARKET CORRUPTION DEBT DISCRIMINATION DISTRICTS DOMINANCE DRINKING WATER ECONOMIC ACTIVITY ECONOMIC BENEFITS ECONOMIC CONDITIONS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC PROGRESS ECONOMICS ELECTRICITY EMPLOYMENT EMPOWERMENT ENTREPRENEURIAL CULTURE ENTREPRENEURSHIP EQUIPMENT FAMILIES FEMALE FEMALES FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT GENDER GENDER DIFFERENCES GENDER EQUALITY GENDER ISSUES HOME HOTELS HUMAN CAPITAL INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURES INFRASTRUCTURE ACCESS INNOVATION INNOVATION POLICY INPUT FLOW INPUT FLOWS INSTITUTION INTERFACE INTERNATIONAL TRADE LABOR LAWS LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKETS LAWS LEGISLATION LICENSE LITERACY LITERACY RATE LITERACY RATES LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANUFACTURING MATERIAL METROPOLITAN AREAS MOBILITY NETWORKS NEW ENTRANTS NEW TECHNOLOGY OCCUPATIONS OPEN ACCESS PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PIPELINES POACHING POPULATION DENSITY PRODUCTION PROCESSES PRODUCTIVITY RADIO REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT RENTING RENTS RESULTS SAFETY SALES OPPORTUNITIES SEWAGE SEX SILICON SOCIAL EXCLUSION TAXATION TELECOMMUNICATIONS TELEVISION TRANSPORT URBAN GROWTH USES VILLAGES WEB WILL
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/10/16831441/explains-big-gender-disparities-india-local-industrial-structures-female-entrepreneurship http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12071

Description
Summary:	Despite rapid economic growth, gender disparities in women's economic participation have remained deep and persistent in India. What explains these huge gender disparities? Is it poor infrastructure, limited education, and gender composition of the labor force and industries? Or is it deficiencies in social and business networks and a low share of incumbent female entrepreneurs?This paper analyzes the spatial determinants of female entrepreneurship in India in the manufacturing and services sectors. Good infrastructure and education predict higher female entry shares. There are strong agglomeration economies in both manufacturing and services, where higher female ownership among incumbent businesses within a district-industry predicts a greater share of subsequent entrepreneurs will be female. Moreover, higher female ownership of local businesses in related industries (similar labor needs, input-output markets) predicts greater relative female entry rates. Gender networks thus clearly matter for women's economic participation. However, there is a need to develop a better understanding of how gender networks influence aggregate efficiency. There is no doubt that gender empowerment can be the escalator to realizing human potential and for creating a robust platform for growth and job creation.