Gender and the growth and dynamics of microenterprises

This report argues the compatibility of the two concerns by delineating the potential for women entrepreneurs to participate in and contribute to regional and national economic growth processes. The paper establishes the importance of gender variables to microenterprise development, explores apparent contradictions between WID and growth-oriented approaches, and proposes a strategy that bridges growth- and gender-oriented approaches and capitalizes on their strengths and complementarities. The practicalities of implementing this strategy are explored in terms of entrepreneurial behavior that impedes or enhances adoption of a growth orientation, the effect of different income strategies on enterprise growth patterns and in particular on enterprise specialization and productivity, and the special constraints and disincentives female entrepreneurs face in increasing the level and stability of their enterprise or portfolio income. Gender-sensitive hypotheses and research questions are presented as a guide to future research. The research questions suggest specific avenues for investigating each hypothesis, while policy implications at the macro, subsector, and micro levels link research with program concerns.