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Speakers at the OECD “Accelerating Women’s
Entrepreneurship” best practices forum in Istanbul
from June 5-7, 2004, identified research as
imperative for effective women entrepreneurial
(WE) policymaking. The topic was addressed in
both a plenary and workshop.
Plenary Session
Marie-Florence Estimé, head of the OECD Small
and Medium Enterprise (SME) Unit, briefly
presented multi-country WE research commissioned
by the OECD and undertaken by professors
Frédéric Delmar and Carin Holmquist of the
Stockholm School of Economics. It drew on recent
WE research conducted by leading academics in a
number of countries. See: www.oecdistanbul.sme2004.org/ documents/02+Womens+ Entrepreneurship.pdf
Multiple speakers emphasized the need for
evidence-based WE policymaking and program
development.
Dina Ionescu, until recently with the OECD LEED
Program, described a LEED methodology that
encourages decision makers to introduce WE
initiatives in their local, municipal, national and
regional policymaking and program development.
This is done in two ways:
By studying what is available locally in terms of
women’s entrepreneurship, and identifying both
the potential, as well as obstacles that can
hinder the growth of WE businesses, and
By facilitating collaboration among local
authorities, LEED, and international experts in
order to develop a road map with recommendations
on how to develop the full potential of
women’s entrepreneurship in the region.
Lois Stevenson presenting an important 10-country
study that indicated that countries with the highest
intensity of support for women’s entrepreneurship had
the highest levels of female self-employment.
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Lois Stevenson of Canada, former President of the
International Council of Small Business (ICSB),
presented “Multi-Country Research on Policies and
Programs regarding Women Entrepreneurs.” The
study, started in 2002, looked at levels of support
for women’s entrepreneurship in 10 countries.
Countries were classified based on their degree of
support:
High level—Canada and the US
Medium level—Finland, Spain, Sweden, and
Taiwan/Chinese Taipei
Low level—Australia, Ireland, Netherlands and
the UK (the UK has evolved rapidly in the last
two years, however)
No support
The study found that gender differences exist, and
affect the development of women-owned firms.
Constraints faced by WEs include family responsibilities,
deficiencies in financial and social capital,
and the relative lack of access to resources.
Countries with the highest intensity of support had
the highest levels of female self-employment. The
US and Canada had policies and programs such as:
A Presidential Task Force on WEs in the US in
1979, and a Canadian Prime Minister’s Task
Force in 2002-2003,
Sex-segregated self-employment data; regular
reporting on the state of women’s business
ownership; and extensive academic research,
Strong advocacy efforts, both by government
and NGOs,
An Office of Women’s Business Ownership (US
Small Business Administration),
Numerous women’s business associations,
National networks of women’s business centers
that provide training and advice,
Dedicated microloan programs, bank loans, and
venture capital funds for WEs,
Online women’s business resource centers,
National and regional awards programs for WEs,
Regular promotion of WE role models,
International trade missions for women-led
firms, and
Government procurement initiatives for womenled
firms (US).
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