Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 2013
  • Article
  • Journal of Economic Geography

Local Industrial Structures and Female Entrepreneurship in India

By: Ejaz Ghani, William R. Kerr and Stephen O'Connell
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

We analyze the spatial determinants of female entrepreneurship in India in the manufacturing and services sectors. We focus on the presence of incumbent female-owned businesses and their role in promoting higher subsequent female entrepreneurship relative to male entrepreneurship. We find evidence of agglomeration economies in both sectors, where higher female ownership among incumbent businesses within a district-industry predicts a greater share of subsequent entrepreneurs will be female. Moreover, higher female ownership of local businesses in related industries (e.g., those sharing similar labor needs, industries related via input-output markets) predict greater relative female entry rates even after controlling for the focal district-industry's conditions. The core patterns hold when using local industrial conditions in 1994 to instrument for incumbent conditions in 2000–2005. The results highlight that the traits of business owners in incumbent industrial structures influence the types of entrepreneurs supported.

Keywords

Entrepreneurship; Gender; Manufacturing Industry; Service Industry; India

Citation

Ghani, Ejaz, William R. Kerr, and Stephen O'Connell. "Local Industrial Structures and Female Entrepreneurship in India." Journal of Economic Geography 13, no. 6 (November 2013): 929–964. (Winner of the FPD Academy Award for Best World Bank Research in Finance and Private Sector Development.)
  • Read Now

About The Author

William R. Kerr

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • June 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Can Goodr Fight Food Insecurity at Scale?

    By: Daniel Isenberg and William R. Kerr
    • May 2022
    • Faculty Research

    RacingThePlanet’s 20-Year Marathon

    By: Daniel Isenberg and William Kerr
    • May 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Chime Solutions

    By: Shai Bernstein, William R. Kerr, Jim Matheson, Christopher Stanton and Ria Mazumdar
More from the Authors
  • Can Goodr Fight Food Insecurity at Scale? By: Daniel Isenberg and William R. Kerr
  • RacingThePlanet’s 20-Year Marathon By: Daniel Isenberg and William Kerr
  • Chime Solutions By: Shai Bernstein, William R. Kerr, Jim Matheson, Christopher Stanton and Ria Mazumdar
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College