Front Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- Foreword -- Preface -- About the Author -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Overview -- Why Seek to Improve Women's Opportunities? -- Why Focus on Sub-Saharan Africa? -- Part I. Mapping Women's and Men's Entrepreneurial Activities -- Part II. Understanding Sorting -- Part III. Expanding Opportunities for Women Entrepreneurs -- Part IV. Toward an Action Agenda -- Notes -- References -- Part I Where Women and Men Work -- 1 Self-Employed, Employers, and Wage Earners in the Formal and Informal Sectors -- Gender Patterns in Entrepreneurship: Laying Out the Facts -- Gender Differences in Labor Force Participation by Region -- Entrepreneurship: Sub-Saharan Africa in a Global Context -- Notes -- References -- 2 The Size, Formality, and Industry of Enterprises -- Enterprise Size -- Enterprise Formality -- Enterprise Industry -- Notes -- References -- Part II Why Women Work Where They Do -- 3 Effect of Country Patterns in Income, Human Capital, and Assets on Where Women Work -- The Importance of Income: A Cross-Country Perspective -- Cross-Country Patterns of Entrepreneurship: Human Capital (Literacy) and Access to Assets (Property Rights) -- Link between Entrepreneurship and Access to Human Capital and Assets -- Notes -- References -- 4 Sorting into Entrepreneurial Activities: Individual Patterns -- Choice 1: Participating in the Nonagricultural Labor Force -- Choice 2: Becoming an Entrepreneur (Self-Employed or Employer) -- Choice 3: Formal or Informal Sector -- Choice 4: Line of Business -- Notes -- References -- Part III How Women Perform-and the Constraints They Face -- 5 How Sorting Affects Gender Gaps in Productivity and Profits -- Productivity and Gender Gaps -- Country Characteristics' Effect on Potential Gender Gaps -- Notes -- References -- 6 How Sorting Affects Constraints.

Constraints Facing Entrepreneurs -- Influence of Constraints on Employment Category -- Notes -- References -- Part IV Shifting Women to More Productive Work -- 7 Increasing the Right to Own and Control Assets -- Regulations, Formal Law, and Practice -- Focus of Women-LEED-Africa -- Main Findings from Women-LEED-Africa -- Gaps between Principle and Practice -- The Way Forward -- Notes -- References -- 8 Expanding Women's Access to Finance -- Sub-Saharan Africa in a Global Context -- Individuals' Access to Finance -- Access to Finance: A Barrier to Entry? -- Financing New Businesses: Access to Loans after Start-Up -- Entrepreneurial Choice Limited by Access to Finance -- Notes -- References -- 9 Enriching Managerial and Financial Skills -- Managerial Skills -- Financial Skills -- Entrepreneurial Skills: Experience and Motivation -- What Kind of Entrepreneurial Training Is Effective-And for Whom? -- Exploiting Synergies between Human and Financial Capital -- Notes -- References -- 10 Strengthening Women's Voices in Business-Environment Reforms -- Why Focus on Women's Voices? -- Grounding Policy Advocacy in Gender-Informed Analysis -- Women and Business Associations -- Bringing Women into Public-Private Dialogue -- Notes -- References -- 11 Toward an Action Agenda -- Reforming the Business Environment -- Increasing Women's Right to Own and Control Assets -- Expanding Women's Access to Finance -- Enriching Managerial and Financial Skills -- Strengthening Women's Voices in Business-Environment Reform -- Areas for Research -- Notes -- References -- Appendixes -- Appendix A: Sources of Data -- Appendix B: Indexes of Gender Equality across Countries -- Appendix C: Comparing Women-LEED-Africa and Its Peers -- Index -- Boxes -- Figures -- Tables -- Back Cover.

This book brings together new household and enterprise data from 41 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to inform policy makers and practitioners on ways to expand women entrepreneurs' economic opportunities. Sub-Saharan Africa boasts the highest share of women entrepreneurs, but they are disproportionately concentrated among the self-employed rather than employers. Relative to men, women are pursuing lower opportunity activities, with their enterprises more likely to be smaller, informal, and in low value-added lines of business. The challenge in expanding opportunities is not helping more women become entrepreneurs but enabling them to shift to higher return activities. A central question addressed in the book is what explains the gender sorting in the types of enterprises that women and men run? The analysis shows that many Sub-Saharan countries present a challenging environment for women. Four key areas of the agenda for expanding women's economic opportunities in Africa are analyzed: strengthening women's property rights and their ability to control assets; improving women's access to finance; building human capital in business skills and networks; and strengthening women's voices in business environment reform. These areas are important both because they have wide gender gaps and because they help explain gender differences in entrepreneurial activities. It is particularly striking that while gender gaps in education tend to close with higher incomes, gaps in women's property rights and in women's participation in reform processes do not. As simply raising a country's income is unlikely to be sufficient to give women equal ability to control assets or have greater voice, more proactive steps will be needed. Practical guidelines to move the agenda forward are discussed for each of these key areas.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2018. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.