This study explains female entrepreneurship from a country perspective. Explanatory variables are derived from three streams of literature, including that on the determinants of entrepreneurship, female labour-force participation, and female entrepreneurship. To test the theoretical relationships, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data have been used, including total entrepreneurial activity rates for women and men for 2002, as well as a range of economic and institutional variables from standardised national statistics for 37 countries. We found that the factors determining female and male entrepreneurship at the macro-level are fairly similar.

An updated version of this ScalesPaper can be found under number N200510.