Formal Female Entrepreneurship and the Shadow Economy

Although female entrepreneurship yields products, markets, and business models that might not exist otherwise and are relevant to economic growth and development as well as issues related to gender equality, the factors that drive female entrepreneurship is largely understudied. The primary objective of this study is to examine the relationship between the size of a country’s informal sector and the prevalence of female entrepreneurship in the formal economy. This relationship is empirically tested using a regression analysis that employs a cross-country data set of 70 countries. The analysis results indicate a significant inverse relationship between the size of the informal sector and the prevalence of formal sector female entrepreneurship. It is argued that a larger informal economy implies a greater number of women working in the informal sector due to discriminatory barriers to the formal economy. Both formal sector entrepreneurship and work in the informal economy can lessen the barrier to entry women face related to work-life balance by allowing greater flexibility in work hours; however, employment in the informal sector is a relatively poor substitute to formal sector employment as informal sector work does not include benefits, nor is it taxed or included in official statistics. Policy recommendations for encouraging formal female entrepreneurship are made. Promoting female entrepreneurship in the formal sector not only helps to close gender, inequality gaps, but also serves to improve tax systems, lessen distortions in national accounts and official indicators, and improve the provision of public goods

A Seat at the Table or a Power Seat: The Impact of Simple Representation Versus Power Representation of Women in Government on Funding for Primary Education

Scholars have repeatedly shown that female politicians focus more on common good issues such as health care and education than their male counterparts. When men hold the majority of positions of political power these issues may not be raised for debate within government even if women are present. Using a cross-country dataset, this research examines the impact of women in government on public spending on primary education. Specifically, it explores whether it is enough for women to be represented in government, or if they must have a position of power to effect policy outcomes. The analysis results indicate that both women’s simple representation and power representation are significantly positively correlated with increases in federal spending on primary education; however, when women hold positions of political power there is a greater impact on funding than when they simply hold a seat in the legislature

Illicit Trade and Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

Research purpose. Growth of illicit trade has markedly increased and caused damage to a multitude of economic, socio-economic and environmental outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of Hofstede’s country cultural dimensions on the attitudes towards illicit trade and the political will to counter the crime across countries

Corruption and the role of information

Several studies have explored how certain economic and cultural variables affect a country's corruption level. This study extends previous research by not only considering these variables, but also taking into account the impact that information and communication technology can have on corruption. The results indicate that the greater the access to information, the lower the corruption levels. Therefore bridging the digital disparity across countries can also serve to lessen national corruption levels. Journal of International Business Studies (2007) 38, 320–332. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400262