Title: Women's self-employment intentions after global shocks: insights from Egypt and Spain

Authors: Alaitz Zabala; Seham Ghalwash; Ayman Ismail; Iñaki Peña-Legazkue

Addresses: Deusto Business School, San Sebastián, Spain ' The Technical University of Denmark - DTU Entrepreneurship, Denmark; The American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt ' The American University in Cairo, Cairo, Egypt ' Deusto Business School, San Sebastián, Spain

Abstract: We compare the self-employment intentions of women from different contexts, namely, Egypt and Spain after two recent incidents of global economic collapse - the 2008 global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. We draw on occupational choice and human capital theories to better understand how the self-employment intentions of women with different age, perceptual and human capital profiles vary in periods of crisis. Consistent with previous studies, the results suggest that intentions of self-employment vary with the specific perceptual and human capital attributes of women. However, the macroeconomic conditions and the context matter since the findings also show that the factors that drive the self-employment intention of women differ from one global shock to another. Moreover, the impact of each global shock in every context is different. These findings provide new guidance for policymakers by acknowledging the relevance of the heterogeneity of women, economic periods and contexts to the choice of self-employment.

Keywords: self-employment; women entrepreneurship; shocks; human capital; occupational choice; perceptions; intention; crisis.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2023.130359

European Journal of International Management, 2023 Vol.20 No.1, pp.124 - 142

Received: 27 May 2021
Accepted: 30 Sep 2021
Published online: 18 Apr 2023 *

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