Yves Robichaud

STAGES OF SMALL ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT: A COMPARISON OF CANADIAN FEMALE AND MALE ENTREPRENEURS

The explosive growth in the rate of new business formation by women has spurred renewed research interest in the area of female entrepreneurship and its related economic impact. Yet, there has been a dearth of research into the influence of gender on new venture formation and development. This study draws on data from the annual survey of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor to examine the differences between female and male entrepreneurs in the early stages of small enterprise development. The data was aggregated for the period 2002 through 2004, and consisted of 444 Canadian entrepreneurs: 164 females and 280 males.Gender differences are explored within the context of a variety of personal as well as business-related variables. Women entrepreneurs had a much greater propensity to have established a consumer or business services enterprise, and reported significantly lower income levels. In addition, they were less likely than their male counterparts to work full time at their business, to utilize new technology or to anticipate new business opportunities in the near term.In terms of the enterprises stage of development, it was found that 62 percent of the enterprises operated by females were ‘nascent’ small firms, while 38 percent were ‘new;’ the respective proportions for males were 55 percent and 45 percent. The analysis revealed that the difference between genders on business-related variables strengthens as the firm evolves through the stages of development from nascent to new; however, there was mixed support for the corollary hypothesis that differences in personal characteristics and attitudes diminish during this progression: even for ventures that have reached the ‘new’ phase, personal variables continue to act as important discriminators between genders.The paper provides a discussion of the implications of these empirical findings, as well as some directions for future research.

L’influence des motivations entrepreneuriales sur la performance des PME

Compte tenu que l’entrepreneuriat occupe une place importante dans l’ensemble de l’économie canadienne, il est primordial de mieux comprendre les facteurs qui aident ou qui limitent le développement économique des petites et moyennes entreprises (PME). C’est dans cette perspective que cette étude cherche à susciter une meilleure compréhension de l’entrepreneuriat en examinant plus attentivement les motivations d’un échantillon de 375 entrepreneurs provenant des provinces canadiennes de l’Atlantique et de l’Ontario.

GENDER MOTIVES OF MEXICAN ENTREPRENEURS IN TWO LARGE URBAN SETTINGS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

The need for an income is cited by several studies as a primary motive for both formal and informal business start-up activities found in emerging countries. Conversely, entrepreneurs from developed countries enjoying more favorable economic conditions (such as the United States, Canada, or the European Union) are mainly motivated by intrinsic motives. Given the extant literature, it appeared important to determine which motivators were at play in larger Mexican urban centers, where economic conditions seemed to have become similar to those of Canada and the United States. No significant differences were observed between the motives of female as compared to male entrepreneurs from urban Mexico because a majority went into business primarily for economic reasons rather than for intrinsic motives. Knowing that Mexican entrepreneurs are mostly motivated by economic goals should help local governments in designing policies aimed at fostering and facilitating entrepreneurship.