Gender Perspectives on Socioeconomic Determinants of Ownership of Enterprise in Ghana
Keywords:
Gender, enterprise ownership, necessity, opportunity
Abstract
Even though literature is replete with discussions on entrepreneurship, the focus had mostly been on the developed world. This study contributes to the discussions by examining gender perspective of enterprise ownership in the context of Ghana. It draws on both quantitative and qualitative secondary data sets to address the objective. The quantitative data were collected through a comprehensive field survey conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service in 2012/ 2013. The survey involved 16,000 households selected through multistage sampling across the ten regions of Ghana. On the other hand, the qualitative data were collected through 14 separate focus group discussions in 2015 in seven purposively selected regions of Ghana. Probit regression analysis was employed to identify the socioeconomic determinants of enterprise ownership. The results indicated gender differentials in the socioeconomic factors that influence men and women to own enterprises in Ghana. Suggestion was therefore made for the gender differentials to be incorporated in policy on entrepreneurial activities in Ghana.
References
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Guma, K.P. (2015). Business in the urban informal economy: Barriers to women’s entrepreneurship in Uganda. Journal of African Business, 16(3): 305-321.
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Ibru, C. (2009). Growing Micro-finance through New Technologies . Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.
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Kelley, D.J., Bosma, N. and Amoros, J.E. (2011). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 2010 Global Report. London: GERA.
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Mukasa, S., Tanzarn N., Kabuchu H. and Kayonga S.V. (2004). Uganda: Poverty and gender assessment: Strengthening linkages between poverty and gender analysis in Uganda. Danish Cooperation.
OECD (2003). Women’s Entrepreneurship: Issues and policies . Working paper on small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurship. OECD, Paris.
Overå, R. (2007). When men do women’s work: Structural adjustment, unemployment and changing gender relations in the informal economy of Accra, Ghana. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 45(4): 539-563.
Richardson, P., Howarth, R. and Finnegan, G. (2004). The Challenges of Growing Small Businesses: Insights from women entrepreneurs in Africa . Geneva: International Labour Office.
Reynolds, P.D., Camp S.M., Bygrave W.D., Autio E. and Hay M. (2001). The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2001 Executive Report. London Business School and Babson College.
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Sackey, H.A. and Osei, B. (2006). Human Resource Underutilization in an Era of Poverty Reduction: An analysis of unemployment and underemployment in Ghana. African Development Bank & Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Oxford.
Shapero, A. and Sokol, L. (1982). The social dimensions of entrepreneurship. In: C. Kent, D. Sexton and K. Vesper (eds), The Encyclopaedia of Entrepreneurship. Englewood Cliffs, NJ. 72-90.
Spring, A. (2009). African women in the entrepreneurial landscape: Reconsidering the formal and informal sectors. Journal of African Business, 10(1): 11-30.
Thompson, P., Jones-Evans, D. and Kwong, C. (2009). Women and home-based entrepreneurship: Evidence from the United Kingdom. International Small Business Journal, 27(2): 227-37.
Tillmar, B.S.M. (2015). Resilient gender order in entrepreneurship: The case of Swedish welfare industries. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 7(1):2-26.
University of Dares Salaam Entrepreneurship Centre (2002). Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania. UDEC, Dares Salaam (October).
Verheul, I., Thurik R., Hessels J. and Zwan P.V.D. (2010). Factors Influencing the Entrepreneurial Engagement of Opportunity and Necessity Entrepreneurs. Zoetermeer: EIM Research Reports. Welter, F., Smallbone D., Aculai E., Isakova N. and Schakirova N. (2003). Female entrepreneurship in post-soviet countries. In: J. Butler (ed.), New Perspectives on Women Entrepreneurship, Information Age Publishing , Greenwich, CT. 243-69.
Williams, C.C. (2009). The motives of off-the-book entrepreneurs: Necessity or opportunity driven? International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal , 5:203–217.
Williams, C.C. (2008). Beyond necessity-driven versus opportunity-driven entrepreneurship: A study of informal entrepreneurs in England, Russia and Ukraine. Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 9: 157–65.
Yankson, P.W.K., Owusu G., Bawakyillenuo S. and Osei R.D. (2013). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: GEM Ghana 2010 Executive Report . Accra: ISSER.
Yngstrom, I. (2002). Women, wives and land rights in Africa: Situating gender beyond the household in the debate over land policy and changing tenure systems. Oxford Development Studies, 30(1): 21-40.
Zewde and Associates. (2002). Jobs, gender and small enterprise in Africa: the study of women's entrepreneurship development in Ethiopia. Authors.
Zororo, M. (2011). Characteristics and motivation in female entrepreneurship. The case of Botswana. University of Botswana Journal, 6(1).
Aidis, R., Welter F., Smallbone D. and Isakova N. (2007). Female entrepreneurship in transition economies: The case of Lithuania and Ukraine. Feminist Economics, 113(2): 157-183.
Audretsch, D., Thurik R., Verheul I. and Wennekers S. (2002). Understanding entrepreneurship across countries and over time. In: D. Audretsch, R. Thurik, I. Verheul, and S. Wennekers (eds.), Entrepreneurship: Determinants and policy in a European – US comparison. Springer, New York. 1-10.
Benzing, C. and Chu, H.M. (2009). A comparison of the motivations of small business owners in Africa. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Dev. , 16: 60–77.
Conner, M.G. (2000). Understanding the difference between men and women. Available at http://oregoncounseling.org/ArticlesPapers.
Domfe, G., Osei R.D. and Ackah C. (2013). Determinants of types of underemployment in the MiDA intervention zones of Ghana. Journal of Developing Country Studies, 3(12): 33 – 47.
Ellis A., Manuel C. and Blackden C.M. (2006). Gender and Economic Growth in Uganda: Unleashing the power of women. Washington DC: The World Bank.
Frese, M. and de Kruif, M. (2000). Psychological success factors of entrepreneurship in Africa: A selective literature review. In: M. Frese (ed.) Success and Failure of Microbusiness Owners in Africa: A psychological approach , London: Quorum Books.
Ghana Statistical Service (2000). Poverty Trends in Ghana in the 1990s. Accra; GSS.
Gilad, B. and Levine, P. (1986). A behavioral model of entrepreneurial supply. Journal of Small Business Management, 24(4): 45-51.
Gough, K.V., Tipple, A.G. and Napier, M. (2003). Making a living in African cities: The role of home-based enterprises in Accra and Pretoria. International Planning Studies, 8(4): 253–277.
Grilo, I. and Thurik, R. (2008). Determinants of entrepreneurial engagement levels in Europe and the US. Industrial and Corporate Change , 17(6): 1113-1145.
Guma, K.P. (2015). Business in the urban informal economy: Barriers to women’s entrepreneurship in Uganda. Journal of African Business, 16(3): 305-321.
Halkias, D., Thurman, P. and Harkiolakis, N. (2011). Female Immigrant Entrepreneurs: The economic and social impact of a global phenomenon. Farnham; Ashgate Publishing.
Hessels, J., Van Gelderen, M.W. and Thurik, A.R. (2008). Drivers of entrepreneurial aspirations at the country level: The role of start-up motivations and social security. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal , 4: 401–17..
Ibru, C. (2009). Growing Micro-finance through New Technologies . Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.
International Finance Corporation (2011). Strengthening Access to Finance for Women-owned SMEs in Developing Countries. World Bank: Washington DC.
Kelley, D.J., Bosma, N. and Amoros, J.E. (2011). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 2010 Global Report. London: GERA.
Khan, F.R. (2014). Socioeconomic factors influencing entrepreneurship development: An empirical study across the small and medium enterprises of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. International Journal of Students Research in Technology and Management, 2(3): 89-94.
Langevang, T., Namatovu R. and Dawa, S. (2012). Beyond necessity and opportunity entrepreneurship: Motivations and aspirations of young entrepreneurs in Uganda. International Development Planning Review , 34(4): 439-459.
Langevang, T., Gough K.V., Yankson P.W., Owusu G. and Osei R. (2015). Bounded entrepreneurial vitality: The mixed embeddedness of female entrepreneurship. Economic Geography, 91(4): 449-473.
Langevang, T. and Gough, K. (2009). Surviving through movement: The mobility of urban youth in Ghana. Social and Cultural Geography, 10(7): 741–756.
Liedholm, C. (2002). Small firm dynamics: Evidence from Africa and Latin America. Small Business Economics, 18(3): 225-240.
Madarang, I.J. and Habito, C.F. (2007). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: Philippine Report, 2006 – 2007. Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship, Mandaluyong City.
Marlow, S., Carter, S. and Shaw, E. (2008). Constructing female entrepreneurship policy in the UK: Is the US a relevant benchmark? Environment, Planning, Government and Policy, 26(2): 335-351.
Marlow, S. and McAdam, M. (2013). Gender and entrepreneurship: Advancing debate and challenging myths; exploring the mystery of the under-performing female entrepreneur. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research , 19(1): 114-124.
McGowan, P., Redeker C.L., Cooper S.Y. and Greenan K. (2012). Female entrepreneurship and the management of business and domestic roles: Motivations, expectations and realities. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development , 24(1): 53- 72.
Minniti, M. and Naudé, W. (2010). What do we know about the patterns and determinants of female entrepreneurship across countries? The European Journal of Development Research, 22(3): 277-293.
Minniti, M., Arenius, P. and Langowitz, N. (2005). The 2004 report on women and entrepreneurship. In: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor . Wellesley, MA: Center for Women’s Leadership at Babson College.
Mukasa, S., Tanzarn N., Kabuchu H. and Kayonga S.V. (2004). Uganda: Poverty and gender assessment: Strengthening linkages between poverty and gender analysis in Uganda. Danish Cooperation.
OECD (2003). Women’s Entrepreneurship: Issues and policies . Working paper on small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurship. OECD, Paris.
Overå, R. (2007). When men do women’s work: Structural adjustment, unemployment and changing gender relations in the informal economy of Accra, Ghana. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 45(4): 539-563.
Richardson, P., Howarth, R. and Finnegan, G. (2004). The Challenges of Growing Small Businesses: Insights from women entrepreneurs in Africa . Geneva: International Labour Office.
Reynolds, P.D., Camp S.M., Bygrave W.D., Autio E. and Hay M. (2001). The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2001 Executive Report. London Business School and Babson College.
Reynolds, P.D., Carter N., Gartner W., Greene P. and Cox L. (2002). The Entrepreneur Next Door: Characteristics of individuals starting companies in America. Kansas City, MO: Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
Rosa, P.J., Kodithuwakku, S. and Balunywa, W. (2006). Entrepreneurial motivation in developing countries: What does “necessity” and “opportunity” entrepreneurship really mean? Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 27(10).
Sackey, H.A. and Osei, B. (2006). Human Resource Underutilization in an Era of Poverty Reduction: An analysis of unemployment and underemployment in Ghana. African Development Bank & Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Oxford.
Shapero, A. and Sokol, L. (1982). The social dimensions of entrepreneurship. In: C. Kent, D. Sexton and K. Vesper (eds), The Encyclopaedia of Entrepreneurship. Englewood Cliffs, NJ. 72-90.
Spring, A. (2009). African women in the entrepreneurial landscape: Reconsidering the formal and informal sectors. Journal of African Business, 10(1): 11-30.
Thompson, P., Jones-Evans, D. and Kwong, C. (2009). Women and home-based entrepreneurship: Evidence from the United Kingdom. International Small Business Journal, 27(2): 227-37.
Tillmar, B.S.M. (2015). Resilient gender order in entrepreneurship: The case of Swedish welfare industries. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, 7(1):2-26.
University of Dares Salaam Entrepreneurship Centre (2002). Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania. UDEC, Dares Salaam (October).
Verheul, I., Thurik R., Hessels J. and Zwan P.V.D. (2010). Factors Influencing the Entrepreneurial Engagement of Opportunity and Necessity Entrepreneurs. Zoetermeer: EIM Research Reports. Welter, F., Smallbone D., Aculai E., Isakova N. and Schakirova N. (2003). Female entrepreneurship in post-soviet countries. In: J. Butler (ed.), New Perspectives on Women Entrepreneurship, Information Age Publishing , Greenwich, CT. 243-69.
Williams, C.C. (2009). The motives of off-the-book entrepreneurs: Necessity or opportunity driven? International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal , 5:203–217.
Williams, C.C. (2008). Beyond necessity-driven versus opportunity-driven entrepreneurship: A study of informal entrepreneurs in England, Russia and Ukraine. Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 9: 157–65.
Yankson, P.W.K., Owusu G., Bawakyillenuo S. and Osei R.D. (2013). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: GEM Ghana 2010 Executive Report . Accra: ISSER.
Yngstrom, I. (2002). Women, wives and land rights in Africa: Situating gender beyond the household in the debate over land policy and changing tenure systems. Oxford Development Studies, 30(1): 21-40.
Zewde and Associates. (2002). Jobs, gender and small enterprise in Africa: the study of women's entrepreneurship development in Ethiopia. Authors.
Zororo, M. (2011). Characteristics and motivation in female entrepreneurship. The case of Botswana. University of Botswana Journal, 6(1).
Published
2017-09-01
Section
Articles
