Publication: The Future is Female: An Assessment of Growth-Oriented, Opportunity-Driven, Women-Owned Enterprises in Rural India
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2024-07-24
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2024-07-24
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Women are an untapped resource for economic development across the world, particularly in developing countries like India. Entrepreneurship is a critical avenue for women’s empowerment, leads to substantial benefits for the health and well-being of families and communities and represents a sizable proportion of women’s paid work in several countries. In India, where female labor force participation is declining, entrepreneurship and effective participation in the labor market are vital for socioeconomic development. Typically, women-owned enterprises operate at a smaller scale, in low-growth sectors and are financed by their savings. Women’s entrepreneurship in India is dominated by subsistence micro-enterprises. Of the 5.2 million women-owned enterprises located in rural India, 86.9 percent operate without hired labor, 79 percent are self-financed, and 60 percent are in the manufacturing sector. There is a lacuna in the available knowledge on women entrepreneurs, the growth potential of their enterprises and the constraints they face, even as programs supporting female entrepreneurs have gained momentum across the globe. Learning about growth-oriented women entrepreneurs, the life cycle of their enterprises, the factors that affect the current and future growth of their firms, and the support their businesses need, are prerequisites for interventions, support, and policymaking. The study situates rural growth-oriented enterprises amongst the wider universe of women-owned micro-enterprises. It analyses design principles, features, interventions, frameworks, and tools that promote growth-oriented entrepreneurship among rural women. The research methodology combines a review of existing literature, a spatial analysis of where growth-oriented enterprises are concentrated and a primary survey.
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“World Bank; The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. 2024. The Future is Female: An Assessment of Growth-Oriented, Opportunity-Driven, Women-Owned Enterprises in Rural India. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/41949 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
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