Campos, Francisco2016-11-302016-11-302011-09https://hdl.handle.net/10986/25526Female-owned small to medium businesses in the Western Cape Province in South Africa are less productive, generate lower revenues and have less employees than male-owned enterprises. In this brief, we use the baseline survey for an impact evaluation of a business development services program to identify why these differences exist and explore paths towards policy interventions to overcome them. Author conclude that the concentration of businesses in low performing sectors, the lack of commitment to the business, the intertwining of household and business responsibilities, and access to finance can be important barriers to the growth of women-headed enterprises. Author suggests targeted alternative interventions to address these constraints and recommend comparing their effectiveness through rigorous evaluations. Author argue that the gender differences identified in the performance of Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in this Province of South Africa can be due to a combination of: 1) the concentration of women-entrepreneurs in a small number of low-performing sectors, 2) firms being seen by entrepreneurs as an interim solution, 3) the intertwining of household and enterprise money, and 4) credit constraints.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO CREDITACCESS TO FINANCEACCESS TO FINANCIAL SERVICESACCESS TO MARKETSBANK ACCOUNTBANK ACCOUNTSBANKSBUSINESS ACTIVITIESBUSINESS ADVICEBUSINESS DEVELOPMENTBUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SERVICESBUSINESS OWNERBUSINESS OWNERSBUSINESS PERFORMANCEBUSINESS PLANBUSINESS PURPOSESBUSINESS SERVICESCAPITAL INVESTMENTCOLLATERALCOMPETITIVENESSCREDIT CONSTRAINTSCREDIT GUARANTEESCREDIT HISTORYEARNINGSECONOMIC EMPOWERMENTECONOMIC GROWTHELECTRICITYENTREPRENEURENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLSENTREPRENEURSEQUIPMENTFAMILY SUPPORTFEMALEFEMALE BUSINESSFEMALE ENTERPRISESFEMALE ENTREPRENEURSFEMALE POPULATIONFINANCIAL LITERACYFINANCIAL MANAGEMENTGENDERGENDER DIFFERENCESGENDER GAPSGENDER PROGRAMGROUP OF WOMENGROWTH OF WOMENHOMEINITIAL INVESTMENTSINSURANCEINTELLECTUAL PROPERTYJOB OPPORTUNITIESLACK OF KNOWLEDGELIMITED ACCESSMANUFACTURINGMARKET POTENTIALMARKETINGMEDIUM ENTERPRISESMICRO ENTERPRISESMICRO-ENTERPRISESMICROFINANCEPERSONAL LIFEPOOR ACCESSPRIVATE SECTORPRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENTPRODUCTIVITYSAVINGSSAVINGS ACCOUNTSSERVICE PROVIDERSSMALL BUSINESSSMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTSMALL BUSINESS ENTREPRENEURSSMALL BUSINESSESTECHNICAL SKILLSTELEPHONETRANSPORTATION SERVICESUNEMPLOYMENTWILLWOMEN ENTREPRENEURSWORKING CAPITALYOUTHWOMEN AND PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENTAFRICA GENDER POLICYGENDER INNOVATION LABBriefWorld Bank10.1596/25526