Publication: Female Business Ownership and Informal Sector Persistence
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2013-09
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2014-02-03
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Abstract
The informal sector in India has been exceptionally persistent over the past two decades. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. This paper shows that a substantial share of the persistence in India's unorganized manufacturing sector is due to the rapid increase in female-owned businesses. Had women's participation remained in the proportion to male-owned businesses that was evident in 1994, the unorganized manufacturing sector would have declined in share rather than increased. Most of these new female-owned businesses are opened in the household and at a small scale, about a third of the size of a typical male-owned business in the informal sector. Yet, it appears that these businesses offer economic opportunities not otherwise present and a transition for some women from unpaid domestic work.
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“Kerr, William R.; Ghani, Ejaz; O'Connell, Stephen D.. 2013. Female Business Ownership and Informal Sector Persistence. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 6612. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16836 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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