Female Business Ownership and Informal Sector Persistence

Female Business Ownership and Informal Sector Persistence

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...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Ghani, Ejaz, Kerr, William R., O'Connell, Stephen D.
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2014
Subjects:	ACCOUNTING ADB AID BANKING SECTOR BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT BUSINESS LEADERS BUSINESS REGISTRATION BUSINESS SERVICES BUSINESSES CITIES COMMERCE COMPETITIVENESS COMPUTER HARDWARE CONNECTIVITY CUSTOMER DEMAND DEBT DESCRIPTION DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT POLICY DISTRICTS ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES ECONOMIC ACTIVITY ECONOMIC CONDITIONS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES ECONOMIC TRENDS ELECTRICITY EMPLOYMENT ENTERPRISE SECTOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP EQUIPMENT EQUIPMENTS FEMALE FEMALE LABOR FORCE GENDER GENDER DIFFERENCES GENDER DISCRIMINATION GENDER EQUALITY GENDER ISSUES GLOBALIZATION HOTELS HOUSEHOLD LEVEL HOUSEHOLDS HUMAN CAPITAL INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURES INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT INNOVATION INNOVATION POLICY INSTITUTION INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS JOB CREATION LABOR MARKETS LAWS LICENSE LITERACY RATE LITERACY RATES LIVING CONDITIONS LOCAL ECONOMY MANUFACTURING MINORITY NATIONAL LEVEL NATIONAL LEVELS NETWORKS NEW ENTRANTS OPEN ACCESS POLICY DISCUSSIONS POLICY IMPLICATIONS POLICY MAKERS POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POLITICAL TURMOIL POPULATION CENSUS POPULATION CENSUSES POPULATION DENSITY POPULATION GROWTH POPULATION GROWTH RATES PRODUCTIVITY PROGRESS PURCHASING POWER PURCHASING POWER PARITY RADIO RATE OF MIGRATION RECREATION REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT RENTING REPRODUCTION RESPECT RESULT RESULTS ROLE OF WOMEN SANITATION SLUMS SMALL ENTERPRISES SOCIAL EXCLUSION SOCIAL SCIENCE STRESSES TELEVISION TIME PERIOD TRANSPORT TRANSPORTATION UNEMPLOYMENT URBANIZATION USES VILLAGES VULNERABILITY WAGES WEB WORKFORCE
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/09/18275300/female-business-ownership-informal-sector-persistence http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16836

Description
Summary:	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.