Women-Led Enterprises in Turkey

Cebeci, Tolga ; Essmat, Sammar

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: women entrepreneurs;    small and medium-sized enterprises;    business environment;    gender;   

RP-ID  :  110297

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The Business Environment and EnterprisePerformance Surveys 2013 (BEEPS orEnterprise Surveys)conducted by the World Bank provides new opportunities tobetterunderstand obstacles to female entrepreneurship inTurkey and thereby develop morefocused policies to improveit. The last BEEPS for Turkey, conducted between January2013 and May 2014, covers 1,344 enterprises that employ atleast 5 people and operate in industry or services allaround Turkey. Those who are identified as “the topmanager”,“the main decision maker” and “owner/one of theowners (by any share in the capital)of the enterprise” inthe survey are referred to as the “leader of the enterprise”for the purpose of this study. It is well documented thatparticipation of women in economic life in Turkey is toolowboth compared to that of men in the country and that ofwomen in countries of similarper capita income. This gendergap in economic participation is observed not onlyinparticipation in the labor market, but also inentrepreneurship. Although women in most countries lagbehind men in entrepreneurship, the gap is particularlylarge in Turkey.Achieving gender equity in economic life isone of the main areas covered by the Turkey CountryPartnership Strategy of the World Bank Group. One of theprojects that the Bank has been implementing together withthe Ministry of Family and Social Policies tothis end is the“Increasing Women’s Access to Economic Opportunities”. Thisstudy aims to contribute to the project by identifying andanalyzing gender aspects ofentrepreneurship in Turkey. Inaddition to the main survey that includes questions aboutthe business environment, a separate module on gender wasincluded in the 2013 Turkey survey. The purpose of thegender module was to get a better understanding of theprofiles and performance of enterprises led by women as wellas the profiles of what we define as womencompany leaders.The outline of this study is as follows: The second sectioncompares profiles ofentrepreneurs led by men versus thoseled by women. So, the basic characteristics ofenterprisesare compared by gender of the leader. The third sectioncompares theprofiles of the company leaders themselves. Theforth section analyzes performances ofenterprises by genderof the leader and finally the fifth section analyses theperceptionof business environment constraints by gender ofthe business leader.