Impact of Women Entrepreneurship on Economic Growth: A Study of Selected SME’s in Imo State
Abstract
This study has examined the impact of women entrepreneurship on economic growth income. The specific objectives of the study were to examine the impact of women entreprenuership on employment generation, to investigate the impact of women entreprenuership skill and learning on wealth creation, and to ascertain the impact of women social status on community and social development. The study adopted survey design approach, the total population was 450, using Taro Yamene formular the sample size of 212 was derived, however the total number of questionnaires returned was 201 which was used for the analysis. the questionnaire was subjected to supervisor’s corrections so as to achieve face and content validity. The test-retest approach was employed to ascertain the reliability coefficient. The researcher calculated the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, designated as r, which above 0.5, so affirming the instrument's reliability using the statistical program SPSS version 20.0. The non-parametric Chi-Square test and Analysis of variance (ANOVA) statistical tools were used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The key findings of the study shows that women entrepreneurship has impacted on employment generation. Also, that women entrepreneurship skill and learning has impacted on wealth creation. The study further discovered that women social status has impacted on the community/social development. The report suggests that the government implement measures to promote women as sources or drivers of entrepreneurship to support economic growth. As the majority of women entrepreneurs develop their businesses as micro and small enterprises, often viewing them as family enterprises likely stemming from their motivation to generate income for family sustenance they require marketing, financial, and managerial skills for the effective management of these entrepreneurial operations. Women social status should not be abused as most people even in community might use it to allocate resources unequally thereby introducing inequality and injustice in the distribution of resources especially in our communities.
References
Abor, J., & Biekpe, N. (2006). SME’s Access to Debt Finance: A Comparison Between Male-Owned and Fe-male-Owned Businesses in Ghana. The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 7(2), 105–112.
Ademola, S. S., & Isaac, O. F. (2017). Women Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Economic Development: Evidence From South Western Nigeria. Journal of Entrepreneurship, Business and Economics, 5(2), 19–46.
Aidis, R., Welter, F., Smallbone, D., & Isakova, N. (2007). Female Entrepreneurship in Transition Economies: The Case of Lithuania and Ukraine. Feminist Economics, 13(2), 157–183.
Akpodono, O. S. (2016). Female Entrepreneurship and Economic Development in South-East, Nigeria (PhD thesis). University of Nigeria.
Brush, C. G., & Cooper, Y. S. (2012). Female Entrepreneurship and Economic Development: An International Per-spective. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 24(1–2), 1–6.
Brush, C., Carter, N., Gatewood, E., Greene, P., & Hart, M. (2006). Growth-Oriented Women Entrepreneurs and Their Businesses: A Global Research Perspective. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Buttner, E. H., & Moore, D. P. (1997). Women’s Organizational Exodus to Entrepreneurship: Self-Reported Motiva-tions and Correlates With Success. Journal of Small Business Management, 35(1), 34–46.
Caputo, R. K., & Dolinsky, A. (1998). Women’s Choice to Pursue Self-Employment: The Role of Financial and Human Capital of Household Members. Journal of Small Business Management, 36(2), 8–18.
Cartel, S., & Cannon, T. (2007). Women as Entrepreneurs. London: Academic Press.
Curli, B. (2002). Women Entrepreneurs and Italian Industrialisation: Conjectures and Avenues for Research. Enterprise and Society, 3(4), 634–656.
Ghosh, P., & Cheruvalath, R. (2007). Indian Female Entrepreneurs as Catalysts for Economic Growth and Develop-ment. The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 8(2), 139–148.
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. (2012). Global Entrepreneurship Report. Retrieved from www.gemconsortium.org.
Hébert, R. F., & Link, A. N. (2009). A History of Entrepreneurship. New York: Routledge.
Héctor, S. (2005). Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth: An Empirical Analysis. Dirección General de Investigación Económica Banco de México.
Kalpana, R. A. (2016). The Role of Women Entrepreneurs in Establishing Sustainable Development in Developing Nations. World Review of Business Research, 6(1), 161–178.
Katepa-Kalala, P. (1999). Assessment Report on Women and Poverty and Economic Empowerment of Women. Re-trieved from www.uneca.org.
Kwiatkowski, S. (2004). Social and Intellectual Dimensions of Entrepreneurship. Higher Education in Europe, 29(2), 205–220.
Madichie, N. O. (2009). Breaking the Glass Ceiling in Nigeria: A Review of Women’s Entrepreneurship. Journal of African Business, 10(1), 51–66.
Najla, S. (2015). From Invisibility to Visibility: Female Entrepreneurship in Afghanistan (Master’s thesis). University of Oregon.
Nwoye, M. (2007). Gender Responsive Entrepreneurial Economy of Nigeria: Enabling Women in a Disabling Envi-ronment. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 9(1), 167–177.
OECD Report. (2004). Gender Co-ordination at the OECD: Second Annual Report.
Ong, R. (2008). IFC Empowers Women by Promoting Entrepreneurship, Job Creation, and Growth. Doing Business.
Orhan, M. (1999). Holding the Purse Strings, but Not Business Finance, Their Cup of Tea? Reynolds Sociology and En-trepreneurship: Concepts and Contributions, 16(2), 47–70.
Robertson, C. (1987). Developing Economic Awareness: Changing Perspectives in Studies of African Women 1976–1985. Feminist Studies, 13(1), 97–135.
Sauder, M., Lynn, F., & Podolny, J. (2012). Status: Insights From Organizational Sociology. Annual Review of Sociology, 38(1), 267–283.
Shane, S., & Venkataraman, S. (2000). The Promise of Entrepreneurship as a Field of Research. Academy of Management Review, 25(1), 217–226.
Shane, S., Locke, E. A., & Collins, C. J. (2003). Entrepreneurial Motivation. Human Resource Management Review, 13(3), 257–279.
Spring, A., & Barbara, M. (1998). African Entrepreneurship: Theory. Gainesville and Tallahassee: University of Florida.
Tiedens, L. Z. (2001). Anger and Advancement Versus Sadness and Subjugation: The Effect of Negative Emotion Expressions on Social Status Conferral. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(1), 86–94.
Vossenberg, S. (2013). Women Entrepreneurship Promotion in Developing Countries: What Explains the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship and How to Close It? Maastricht School of Management Working Paper Series, 2013/08.
Welter, F., David, S., Nina, I., Elena, A., & Natalja, S. (2004). Female Entrepreneurship in the Ukraine, Moldova, and Uzbekistan: Characteristics, Barriers, and Enabling Factors and Policy Issues. UNECE Access to Financing and ICT: Women Entrepreneurs in the ECE Region, 93–52. Geneva: United Nations.
Wennekers, S., & Thurik, R. (1999). Linking Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth. Small Business Economics, 13(1), 27–56.
World Bank. (2013). The Role of SMEs in the Bulgarian Economy. Sofia, Bulgaria: World Bank.