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Does gender affect business ‘performance’? A study of microbusinesses in business services in the UK

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  • chell Elizabeth
  • susan baines

Abstract

There is a dearth of studies that have examined the issue of the impact of gender on business performance. Three problems are evident in this earlier work:(1) the need to expose theoretical assumptions; (2) the adequacy of methodologies adopted; and (3) apparent equivocal results. A theme running through much of this work is whether the concept of ‘performance’ is itself gendered. This paper confines itself to addressing three research questions in respect of the impact of gender of business owner on business performance. The field data comprise a sample of 104 microbusinesses in business services in two locations-Newcastle upon Tyne and Milton Keynes, in the UK. The results show (1) no significant difference between the performance of the businesses of sole male and sole female owners, (2) clear evidence of the underperformance of spouse-owned businesses, (3) no support for the hypothesis that women have an ‘integrated approach’ to their business and personal lives (in contrast to men), and (4) evidence that cultural presuppositions about gender roles were most clearly demonstrated in the spouse-owned businesses.

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  • chell Elizabeth & susan baines, 1998. "Does gender affect business ‘performance’? A study of microbusinesses in business services in the UK," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 117-135, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:entreg:v:10:y:1998:i:2:p:117-135
    DOI: 10.1080/08985629800000007
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rosa, Peter & Carter, Sara & Hamilton, Daphne, 1996. "Gender as a Determinant of Small Business Performance: Insights from a British Study," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 8(6), pages 463-478, December.
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    1. Connie Bayudan-Dacuycuy & Lora Kryz C. Baje, 2018. "Assessing the Effects of Simple and Complex Innovation Strategies on the Performance of Firms in the Philippines," Working Papers id:12899, eSocialSciences.
    2. Marshall, Maria I. & Peake, Whitney O., 2013. "Women’s Management Strategies and Growth in Rural Female-Owned Family Businesses," 2014 Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) Annual Meeting, January 3-5, 2014, Philadelphia, PA 161658, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Gary Akehurst & Enrique Simarro & Alicia Mas‐Tur, 2012. "Women entrepreneurship in small service firms: motivations, barriers and performance," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(15), pages 2489-2505, January.
    4. Sara Amoroso & Albert N. Link, 2018. "Under the AEGIS of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship: employment growth and gender of founders among European firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 899-915, April.
    5. Aki Kangasharju & Sari Pekkala, 2001. "The Role of Education in Self-Employment Success," Studies in Economics 0116, School of Economics, University of Kent.
    6. Lo, Kuang-Ta & Pan, Jiun-Nan & Peng, Shi-Shu, 2020. "The role of gender and its potential channels to affect self-employment in Taiwan," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 601-610.
    7. Siri Terjesen & László Szerb, 2008. "Dice thrown from the beginning? An empirical investigation of determinants of firm level growth expectations," Estudios de Economia, University of Chile, Department of Economics, vol. 35(2 Year 20), pages 153-178, December.
    8. Karen D. Hughes & Jennifer E. Jennings & Candida Brush & Sara Carter & Friederike Welter, 2012. "Extending Women's Entrepreneurship Research in New Directions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(3), pages 429-442, May.
    9. Danes, Sharon M. & Stafford, Kathryn & Loy, Johnben Teik-Cheok, 2007. "Family business performance: The effects of gender and management," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(10), pages 1058-1069, October.
    10. Tesfaye T. Lemma & Tendai Gwatidzo & Mthokozisi Mlilo, 2023. "Gender differences in business performance: evidence from Kenya and South Africa," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 591-614, February.
    11. Frances Ruane & Julie Sutherland, 2007. "Firm performance characteristics and gender ownership in a Globalised Economy," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp200, IIIS.
    12. Sara, Amoroso & Albert, Link, 2017. "Under the AEGIS∗ of knowledge intensive entrepreneurship: Employment growth and gender of founders among European Firms," UNCG Economics Working Papers 17-9, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics.
    13. M. Farzana Halim & Carla Barbieri & Duarte B. Morais & Susan Jakes & Erin Seekamp, 2020. "Beyond Economic Earnings: The Holistic Meaning of Success for Women in Agritourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-16, June.
    14. Aliaa El Shoubaki & Jörn Block & Frank Lasch, 2022. "The couple business as a unique form of business: a review of the empirical evidence," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 72(1), pages 115-147, February.
    15. Watson, John & Robinson, Sherry, 2003. "Adjusting for risk in comparing the performances of male- and female-controlled SMEs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 773-788, November.
    16. Celestine Katongole & John C. Munene & Muhammed Ngoma & Samuel Dawa & Arthur Sserwanga, 2015. "Entrepreneur’s Intrapersonal Resources and Enterprise Success among Micro and Small Scale Women Entrepreneurs," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(04), pages 405-447, December.
    17. repec:ags:inpuer:189101 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. John Watson, 2002. "Comparing the Performance of Male-and Female-Controlled Businesses: Relating Outputs to Inputs," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 26(3), pages 91-100, April.
    19. Alonso-Almeida, María del Mar, 2013. "Influence of gender and financing on tourist company growth," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(5), pages 621-631.
    20. Helene Ahl, 2006. "Why Research on Women Entrepreneurs Needs New Directions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 30(5), pages 595-621, September.
    21. Helena Knörr, 2011. "From top management to entrepreneurship: women's next move?," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(1), pages 99-116, March.
    22. Christopher J. Boudreaux & Boris Nikolaev, 2018. "Shattering the glass ceiling? How the institutional context mitigates the gender gap in entrepreneurship," Papers 1812.03771, arXiv.org.
    23. Marco Giuliani & Simone Poli, 2021. "Which Relationship between Gender Diversity, Intellectual Capital and Financial Performance?," International Journal of Business and Management, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 14(10), pages 101-101, July.

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