Narrow Results

Despite the significant contributions of women in economic development nationally, the unrecognized attitude of the government, lack of existing legal framework and policies, vagaries of informal economy and changes in the social–economic landscape have accounted largely for the closure of female enterprises in the informal economy. Using Yoruba female textile traders as a case study because these women have broken the "glass ceiling" and made a success of their textile trading, this paper examined the dynamics of entry and motivations of Yoruba women in textile trading. The paper synthesized Social Capital Theory by Coleman and Social Action Theory by Max Weber to explain the issue. It utilized a qualitative method of data collection. Eight focus group discussions and forty in-depth interviews were used to collect information from the women participants who were purposively chosen. The data reveal that parents, family/kinship members and friends had great influence in the strategic entry of women into textile trading in the Balogun market and the subsequent development of women's entrepreneurial activities. Yoruba female textile traders were motivated into textile trading because of economic and cultural values attached to the trade. This data is essential toward policy formulation for women's entrepreneurial development in the informal economy. This paper argues that any policies implemented for women entrepreneurs in the informal economy must be conceived, formulated and implemented with an in-depth understanding of the nuanced elements in the cultural domain within the social system, which the existing literature has yet to capture.

Contemporary national development policy in many parts of the world is focused on the promotion of entrepreneurship. This is because policy makers see entrepreneurship as an important driver of economic development. Drawing on in-depth research in Ghana and Uganda, this paper provides a comparative analysis of the characteristics of entrepreneurs and their enterprises, their motives for choosing self-employment and the constraints to their businesses in Ghana and Uganda. Using a sample of over 1,000 micro and small entrepreneurs in each country, we found that Ghanaian entrepreneurs are much more motivated by necessity-driven motives while Ugandans are motivated by a combination of opportunity- and necessity-driven motives. Specifically, the factor analysis indicated that whereas Ghanaian entrepreneurs are significantly motived by “Work-family consideration” and “Low opportunity,” entrepreneurs in Uganda rated “Career consideration” and “Survival consideration” as their main motives for engaging in self-employment activities. On success, a much higher fraction of Ugandan entrepreneurs are found to be more successful than their Ghanaian counterparts. Comparatively, we found that Ghanaian businesses are significantly challenged with access to finance or credit; however, their counterparts in Uganda significantly face problems related to institutional weaknesses. Thus, from the factor analysis, “Financial problem” and “Institutional problem” were found to be significantly higher for Ghana and Uganda respectively. Hence, among others, Ghanaian policy makers can stimulate entrepreneurship by taking steps to reduce the level of financial constraints facing its entrepreneurs while in Uganda, much effort should be geared toward improving the business institutional environment.

It is well established in previous research that female and minority entrepreneurs are less successful with business ventures in comparison to whites and males. In that same literature, motivation and growth expectations have been shown to be positively associated with business success. This paper examines how motivations and business goals differ by gender and race and how they affect disparity in business outcomes. Using data from the Second Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED II), we find that stronger motivations for financial gain have a negative effect on business survival rate for black women and Hispanic men. In contrast, the effect is positive for black men and Hispanic women. When considering interactions between financial motivations, race and gender, various significant effects were found and are detailed in the paper. It is important for researchers and practitioners who want to promote entrepreneurship to understand the differences and adapt advisory and training curricula accordingly.