The Environment for Women's Entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa (Orientations in Development) (Orientations in Development)

Contents......Page 6
Acknowledgments......Page 10
Abbreviations......Page 12
Overview......Page 14
CHAPTER 1 The Middle East’s Economic Challenges......Page 24
FIGURE 1.1 The Middle East Is Outstripping Other Developing Regions in Creating Jobs and Cutting Unemployment......Page 25
FIGURE 1.3 Female Labor Force Participation Is Lower in the Middle East and North Africa than Elsewhere, 2005......Page 27
Female Entrepreneurs Can Become an Engine of Growth......Page 28
How the Report Is Organized......Page 30
Annex 1A. Historical Perspective on Women’s Economic Activity in the Middle East and North Africa......Page 31
FIGURE 2.1 Female-Owned Firms Are Relatively Rare in the Middle East......Page 34
FIGURE 2.2 The Share of Female-Owned Firms Varies across the Region......Page 35
FIGURE 2.3 Enterprises Owned Individually, by Gender of Owner......Page 36
FIGURE 2.4 Sources of Finance for New Investment in Jordan and Lebanon, by Gender of Owner......Page 39
FIGURE 2.5 Global Orientation of Male-and Female-Owned Firms......Page 40
FIGURE 2.7 Female-Owned Firms Are Hiring More Workers in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the West Bank and Gaza......Page 43
TABLE 2A.1 Sample Composition of World Bank Enterprise Survey Data for the Middle East and North Africa......Page 45
CHAPTER 3 Investment Climate Barriers to Female-Owned Firms......Page 48
FIGURE 3.1 The Investment Climate Is Binding for Both Male- and Female-Owned Firms in the Middle East and North Africa......Page 49
The Nongendered Business Environment Raises Questions about the Scarcity of Female Entrepreneurs......Page 54
FIGURE 3A.1 Percentage of Male-and Female-Owned Firms Reporting Investment Climate Constraints as Major or Very Severe Obstacles to Business Operation and Growth......Page 55
Attitudes toward Working Women May Hinder Women’s Entrepreneurship......Page 62
TABLE 4.3 Self-Employment Is about as Common in the Middle East as in Other Regions......Page 69
FIGURE 4.7 Women in the Middle East Begin to Leave the Labor Force between Ages 25 and 29......Page 72
CHAPTER 5 How to Boost Female Entrepreneurship......Page 80
Address Gendered Social Norms and Differential Treatment under the Law......Page 81
Next Steps......Page 83
Tables......Page 7
APPENDIX A Perceptions and Female Employment: Methodology and Empirical Results......Page 84
APPENDIX B Business Laws in Middle Eastern and North African Countries......Page 92
TABLE 2.1 Distribution of Male-and Female-Owned Firms, by Size and Average Years of Experience......Page 37
TABLE 2.2 Distribution of Male-and Female-Owned Firms, by Sector and Location......Page 38
TABLE 2.4 Workforce Composition, by Skill Level of Position......Page 41
TABLE 3.1 Percentage of Male-and Female-Owned Firms Reporting the Actual Occurrence of Selected Constraints......Page 51
TABLE 3A.1 Percentage of Male-and Female-Owned Firms Reporting Investment Climate Constraints as Major or Very Severe Obstacles to Business Operation and Growth, by Gender of Owner and Country......Page 59
TABLE 4.1 Country-Level and Regional Characteristics......Page 63
TABLE 4.2 Attitudes toward Working Women Are Less Positive in the Middle East Than in Most Other Developing Regions......Page 66
TABLE A1 Key Employment Statistics and Governance Measures......Page 86
TABLE A2 Relationship between Employment and Perception Indexes, Complete Sample......Page 88
TABLE A3 Relationship between Employment and Perception Indexes in the Middle East and North Africa Region......Page 89
Figures......Page 8
FIGURE 1.2 Rising Labor Force Participation for Women......Page 26
FIGURE 1.4 Can Gender Gaps in Entrepreneurship Lead to Productivity Gaps?......Page 29
FIGURE 2.6 Female Workers Hired in Male-and Female-Owned Firms......Page 42
FIGURE 2.8 Productivity Differences between Male-and Female-Owned Firms......Page 44
FIGURE 3.2 Perception of the Investment Climate in the Middle East and North Africa, by Gender of the Principal Owner......Page 50
FIGURE 3.3 Finance Barriers in the Republic of Yemen, by Gender of the Principal Owner......Page 53
FIGURE 4.1 Some Nonwork Activities Are Valued in the Middle East......Page 64
FIGURE 4.2 The Work Preference Index Is Positively Correlated with Female Labor Force Participation and Female Entrepreneurship......Page 65
FIGURE 4.3 Attitudes Toward Working Women Are Correlated with Female Labor Force Participation—and Entrepreneurship......Page 67
FIGURE 4.4 Work Preference and Labor Force Participation Are Positively Correlated with Rule of Law and Control of Corruption......Page 68
FIGURE 4.5 The Costs of Opening and Closing a Business Are High in the Middle East, as Are the Number of Procedures Required......Page 70
FIGURE 4.6 Closing a Business in the Middle East Is Cumbersome and Costly......Page 71
FIGURE 4.8 Business Regulations and Female Entrepreneurship......Page 73
Box......Page 9
BOX 4.1 Sex, Gender, and Discrimination......Page 75
References and Other Resources......Page 108