'With <1% women being entrepreneurs, India far below global trendline'

NEW DELHI: Less than 1% of Indian women are entrepreneurs, placing India far below the global trendline, a research paper focussed on gender gaps in entrepreneurship in India has highlighted. On the other hand, India aligns with the global pattern for men, with around 3% of working-age men (15–64 years) being entrepreneurs, which is in line with expectations given its income levels.

The research draws upon data from the World Bank covering 186 countries in 2022 and points out that India is one of the most significant outliers in terms of low female entrepreneurship, given its stage of economic development.

Using nationally representative data, the research paper, presented at NCAER's India Policy Forum on Friday, showed that female labour force participation explained much of the gender gap in self-employment, but not in entrepreneurship, where women remain under-represented. It found large, persistent barriers to firm growth for women, even in richer states—highlighting the need for multidimensional, state-specific policy solutions.

Among various data sources, the authors, Gaurav Chiplunkar from University of Virginia and Pinelopi K. Goldberg from Yale University, drew upon data on working-age population -- (21-65 years) in the 2023 round of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS). “Overall, 64% of individuals participate in labour but this masks differences across gender: 91% of men participate in labour as compared to only 39% of women, implying that for every 10 men there are only 4.2 women in the labour force,” the paper stated.

Furthermore, 35% of men and 12% of women operate own-account enterprises, which makes them self-employed individuals without hired labour.