Towards understanding women entrepreneurship in MENA countries : across country comparison of female entrepreneurship
Date
2010
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Publisher
Faculty of Business Administration, The British University in Egypt, Cairo, EG
Abstract
Over the past 30 years there has been increase in the number of women entering self-employment and business ownership driven by the political, economic and technological transformations that seem to be occurring everywhere – as countries convert from command to demand economies. These changes have created economic opportunities for women who are willing to own and operate businesses. Middle Eastern women were no exception and overcame many barriers to be from merely housewives into business owners.
The main purpose of this research is to get a thorough and deep understanding of women entrepreneurship in eleven Arab countries participated in Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Cycles for 2009 and 2008. This research focuses on their orientation, characteristics, and enterprises. The results indicate that while the women entrepreneurs in MENA countries exhibited many similarities with their counterparts in other countries, however they differed in many aspects.
Due to the lack of literature discussing women entrepreneurship in Middle Eastern context, the research highly recommends developing theories exploring women entrepreneurs based on the particularities of MENA countries.
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Working Paper
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Keywords
WOMEN, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION, EARLY-STAGE ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITY PREVALENCE RATES, BUSINESSWOMEN, SELF EMPLOYMENT, MIDDLE EAST, WOMEN'S ADVANCEMENT, BUSINESS MANAGEMENT