What Drives Female Entrepreneurship? A Comparative Analysis of
Developed and Developing Economies

Naisha Kapoor

doi:10.46609/IJSSER.2026.v11i08.028

Title: What Drives Female Entrepreneurship? A Comparative Analysis of Developed and Developing Economies
Authors: Naisha Kapoor
Journal: International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research (IJSSER) ISSN: 2455-8834 Volume: 11 Issue: 8 Publication Date: August 2026 DOI: 10.46609/IJSSER.2026.v11i08.028
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Naisha Kapoor The Shri Ram School Moulsari
MLA 8 Kapoor, Naisha. "What Drives Female Entrepreneurship? A Comparative Analysis of Developed and Developing Economies." Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research, vol. 11, no. 8, Aug. 2026, pp. 4056-4093, doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2026.v11i08.028. Accessed Aug. 2026. APA 6 Kapoor, N. (2026, August). What Drives Female Entrepreneurship? A Comparative Analysis of Developed and Developing Economies. Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research, 11(8), 4056-4093. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2026.v11i08.028 Chicago Kapoor, Naisha. "What Drives Female Entrepreneurship? A Comparative Analysis of Developed and Developing Economies." Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research 11, no. 8 (August 2026), 4056-4093. Accessed August, 2026. https://doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2026.v11i08.028.
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ABSTRACT: Female entrepreneurship is recognised as a key driver of inclusive growth and gender empowerment. This study investigates the macroeconomic determinants of female entrepreneurship across 20 developed and developing economies from 2000 to 2024, addressing a gap in the comparative quantitative literature. Feasible Generalised Least Squares (FGLS) is employed following the selection of fixed effects for developing economies and random effects for developed economies, with diagnostics confirming heteroskedasticity and first-order autocorrelation in both sub-samples. Health emerges as the strongest predictor in both groups, exerting a significant negative effect that is larger in developed economies (?0.443) than in developing economies (?0.284), reflecting the substitution of self-employment for formal work as health conditions improve. Female labour force participation reveals the most economically significant divergence: negative in developing economies (?0.063), indicating a substitution effect as expanding formal employment draws women away from necessity-driven selfemployment, and positive in developed economies (+0.229), indicating a complementarity effect where formal employment serves as a springboard for entrepreneurship. Moreover, education is positively significant in developing economies (+0.026) but insignificant in developed economies, consistent with a ceiling effect in female enrolment. Finally, fertility imposes a significant negative penalty only in developed economies (?1.298), where work–family trade-offs are most acute, while domestic credit is insignificant in developing economies and significantly negative in developed economies (?0.015), suggesting aggregate credit flows toward incumbents rather than first-time women entrepreneurs. Hence, the study derives policy implications for governments and development agencies seeking to promote gender-equitable entrepreneurship.

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