The GLO Discussion Paper of the Month of January shows that promoting access to credit and improving the property rights framework are vital for removing barriers to productive female entrepreneurship at a larger scale in countries such as Eswatini, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe. The paper makes a significant contribution to policy debates, suggesting that policy interventions aimed at removing obstacles to female land tenure and ownership could greatly benefit Southern African countries.
GLO Discussion Papers are research and policy papers of the GLO Network which are widely circulated to encourage discussion. Provided in cooperation with EconStor, a service of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, GLO Discussion Papers are among others listed in RePEc (see IDEAS, EconPapers). Complete list of all GLO DPs downloadable for free.
GLO Discussion Paper of the Month: January
GLO Discussion Paper No. 457, 2020
457 Enterprising women in Southern Africa: When does land ownership matter? – Download PDF
by Brixiová, Zuzana & Kangoye, Thierry & Tregenna, Fiona
GLO Fellow Zuzana Brixiová
Author Abstract:
Limited access to finance is one of the major barriers for women entrepreneurs in Africa. This
paper presents a model of start-ups in which firms’ sales and profits depend on their productivity
and access to credit. However, due to the lack of collateral assets such as land, female
entrepreneurs have more constrained access to credit than do men. Testing the model on data
from the World Bank Enterprise Surveys in Eswatini, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe, we find land
ownership to be important for female entrepreneurial performance in terms of sales levels. This
finding suggests that the small Southern African economies would benefit from removing
obstacles to women’s land tenure and enabling financial institutions to lend against movable
collateral. While land ownership is linked with higher sales levels, it seems less critical for sales
growth and innovation where access to short term loans for working capital seems to be key.
GLO Discussion Papers of January 2020
459 One billion euro program for early childcare services in Italy – Download PDF
by Giorgetti, Isabella & Picchio, Matteo
458 Law enforcement, social control and organized crime. Evidence from local government dismissals in Italy – Download PDF
by Cingano, Federico & Tonello, Marco
457 Enterprising women in Southern Africa: When does land ownership matter? – Download PDF
by Brixiová, Zuzana & Kangoye, Thierry & Tregenna, Fiona
456 Agricultural Transformation and Farmers’ Expectations: Experimental Evidence from Uganda – Download PDF
by Bonan, Jacopo & Kazianga, Harounan & Mendola, Mariapia
455 Reforms and Employment in The Egyptian Labor Market: Evolution by Age From 1988 to 2006 – Download PDF
by Selwaness, Irene
454 Early Life Environments and Frailty in Old Age among Chinese Older Adults – Download PDF
by Li, Xaxi & Xue, Qian-Li & Odden, Michelle C. & Chen, Xi & Wu, Chenkai
453 Social Security Expansion and Neighborhood Cohesion: Evidence from Community-Living Older Adults in China – Download PDF
by Bradley, Elizabeth & Chen, Xi & Tang, Gaojie
452 Prenatal Sunshine Exposure and Birth Outcomes in China – Download PDF
by Zhang, Xin & Wang, Yixuan & Chen, Xi & Zhang, Xun
451 Health Inequality among Chinese Older Adults: The Role of Childhood Circumstances – Download PDF
by Yan, Binjian & Chen, Xi & Gill, Thomas M.
450 Names and Behavior in a War – Download PDF
by Jurajda, Štěpán & Kovač, Dejan
449 Innovation and Self-Employment – Download PDF
by Ciarli, Tommaso & Di Ubaldo, Mattia & Savona, Maria
448 Rent sharing in China: Magnitude, heterogeneity and drivers – Download PDF
by Duan, Wenjing & Martins, Pedro S.
447 Spending in social services in China: A multi-country analysis – Download PDF
by Bajo-Rubio, Oscar & Gómez‐Plana, Antonio G.
446 Time-Space Dynamics of Return and Circular Migration: Theories and Evidence – Download PDF
by Constant, Amelie F.
445 It’s the way people move! Labour migration as an adjustment device in Russia – Download PDF
by Pastore, Francesco & Semerikova, Elena
444 Legal History, Institutions and Banking System Development in Africa – Download PDF
by Mutarindwa, Samuel & Schäfer, Dorothea & Stephan, Andreas
443 Robots, Reshoring, and the Lot of Low-Skilled Workers – Download PDF
by Krenz, Astrid & Prettner, Klaus & Strulik, Holger
442 Competitive strategies, heterogeneous demand sources and firms’ growth trajectories – Download PDF
by Caravella, Serenella & Crespi, Francesco & Guarascio, Dario & Tubiana, Matteo
441 Livelihood Diversification Strategies: Resisting Vulnerability in Egypt – Download PDF
by Helmy, Imane
440 Social Safety Nets in Tunisia: Do Benefits Reach the Poor and Vulnerable Households at the Regional Level? – Download PDF
by Nasri, Khaled
439 Agricultural credits and agricultural productivity: Cross-country evidence – Download PDF
by Seven, Unal & Tumen, Semih
GLO DP Team
Senior
Editors: Matloob Piracha (University of Kent) & GLO; Klaus F.
Zimmermann (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University and Bonn University).
Managing Editor: Magdalena Ulceluse, University of Groningen. DP@glabor.org
