The renowned group of international contributors to this volume provide analysis of where and how gender plays a role in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Eleven essays examine how ecosystems influence women entrepreneurs and how women entrepreneurs influence their local ecosystems, both cross-nationally and through in-depth country studies. The studies build on rich qualitative and quantitative data from diverse contexts including the United States, Norway, India, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Chile. A special section of the book examines national and regional policies in support of growth-oriented women's entrepreneurship. The contributions highlight the significant variety of entrepreneurial ecosystems around the world and provide valuable insights for promoting growth-oriented women's entrepreneurship at the local, regional, and country level. Academic researchers in the areas of entrepreneurship, management, business strategy, economic geography, and gender studies as well as policy-makers at the regional, national, and supra-national levels will all find something valuable in this illuminating book. Contributors include: M. Akoorie, G.A. Alsos, J.E. Amoros, C.G. Brush, S. Coleman, D. Dutta, L.F. Edelman, L. Foss, P. Gabaldon, J. Gibb, D. Gimenez, U. Guelich, A.T. Hailemariam, M. Haugum, C. Henry, J.G. Hussain, L. Karsten, B. Kroon, E. Ljunggren, I.M. Lugalla, C. Lutz, V. Mandakovic, T.S. Manolova, X. Neumeyer, B. Orser, J. Poncela-Casasnovas, A. Robb, N. Sandhu, S.C. Santos, J.M. Scott, C. Seierstad, P. Sinha, M. van Veldhoven, F. Welter, S.R. Xavier, R.I. Yavuz

Women-owned firms represent an increasingly important segment of the small business sector. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 7.8 million women-owned firms in the United States in 2007, generating $1.2 trillion in revenues and providing employment for 7.6 million people. "A Rising Tide" presents the financial strategies that have helped today's bold and creative women entrepreneurs to succeed.
The authors take a lifecycle approach in discussing the issues and strategies for different types of women-owned firms, from nascent and home-based firms to growth-oriented and technology-based enterprises. Each chapter includes real-world cases studies featuring women entrepreneurs as a way to bring the book's lessons to life.
Uniquely, this book ties together the latest research on financing women-owned businesses and its implications for actual or potential entrepreneurs. Drawing on the Kauffman Firm Survey, a longitudinal survey of over 4,000 new firms, the authors are able to provide particularly useful conclusions, making this a must read for the thousands of women who are starting or may start businesses in the next few years.
Click here to view the book trailer.

Women-owned firms represent an increasingly important segment of the small business sector. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 7.8 million women-owned firms in the United States in 2007, generating $1.2 trillion in revenues and providing employment for 7.6 million people. "A Rising Tide" presents the financial strategies that have helped today's bold and creative women entrepreneurs to succeed.
The authors take a "lifecycle approach" in discussing the issues and strategies for different types of women-owned firms, from nascent and home-based firms to growth-oriented and technology-based enterprises. Each chapter includes real-world cases studies featuring women entrepreneurs as a way to bring the book's lessons to life.
Uniquely, this book ties together the latest research on financing women-owned businesses and its implications for actual or potential entrepreneurs. Drawing on the Kauffman Firm Survey, a longitudinal survey of over 4,000 new firms, the authors are able to provide particularly useful conclusions, making this a must read for the thousands of women who are starting or may start businesses in the next few years.
Click here to view the book trailer.

Empirical research has found that entrepreneurial activity correlates positively with innovation and job creation, and governments around the world have shown a growing interest in interventions that promote entrepreneurial success. However, research on whether entrepreneurial success can be taught has reached mixed conclusions, and even the landscape of what is being taught is poorly known. This study looks closely at entrepreneurial education and training (EET) programs in three case study countries in Africa - Kenya, Ghana, and Mozambique - which are all experiencing sustained economic growth and diversification in their private sectors. It draws on both global and country-specific research and on the experience of stakeholders in the case countries. The study identifies practical insights relevant to various target groups, intended outcomes, and social and economic contexts. Overall, it paints a comprehensive picture of both the context for entrepreneurship and the landscape of programs in the case countries. Among its key findings are these: (i) Key macroeconomic trends give reason for optimism about the trajectory of private sector development, but serious barriers to entrepreneurship remain in each country. Corruption, prohibitively high taxes, and burdensome regulatory regimes remain impediments, along with crime. Stakeholders interviewed (potential and practicing entrepreneurs) also cite cultural disincentives and lack of access to finance. (ii) The EET program landscape is highly varied. The programs often emerge as responses to urgent challenges, such as urban youth unemployment, but in the aggregate they target a wide range of learners, from secondary students to university business majors to rural women, and their focus ranges from poverty reduction to attitudinal change. (iii) Too many programs are insufficiently tailored to their participants' backgrounds and needs, attempting to use a single curriculum with participants of varying ages, educational backgrounds, and expectations. (iv) Whereas stakeholders believe business acumen and an entrepreneurial mindset are key to business success, few programs address this. (v) Finally, stakeholders express a strong desire for more business community mentorship and for better access to finance; these are areas that some programs do address, and with positive results, but much more is needed. The findings in this report can inform EET policy and program dialogue at multiple levels, guiding the investment decisions that policymakers and government institutions must make and more clearly indicating where further research in the EET realm is most needed.

Differences in financing patterns and financial characteristics between female- and male-owned firms are often attributed to imperfections in credit markets. However, these differences could arise for many reasons, such as differences in the characteristics and preferences of owners and firms. The differences in lending patterns by gender may in fact have little or nothing to do with supply side factors or market imperfections. The goal of our paper is to test the hypothesis that differences in financing patterns between female- and male-owned small businesses can be explained by differences in business, credit history, and owner characteristics other than gender. In what follows, we first describe how owner, business, and financing characteristics of female-owned businesses differ from male-owned businesses. We then conduct a multivariate analysis of indicators of credit use and recent lending experiences, modeling each of these as a function of firm, owner, and credit history characteristics.