Title: Are we fostering opportunity entrepreneurship for women? Exploring policies and programmes in China and India

Authors: Tonia Warnecke

Addresses: Department of Business and Social Entrepreneurship, Rollins College, 1000 Holt Ave, Winter Park, FL, 32789, USA

Abstract: This paper critically explores a variety of female entrepreneurship policies and programmes in China and India (examples include incubator projects as well as training, education, credit, and other financial programmes), providing a much-needed overview of the current state of support for women entrepreneurs in these countries and which economic sectors and actors (governments, non-governmental organisations, and private firms) are most engaged in providing this support. The paper also evaluates which types and structures of programmes are more likely to promote upward mobility and opportunity entrepreneurship. Finally, the paper presents an exploratory framework for considering five key characteristics of female entrepreneurship programmes (provision of money, goods, or services; skills training; business development services; professional networking services; and/or professional mentoring) and their relationship to necessity and opportunity entrepreneurship. It also gauges the inclusivity of the programmes. Further research can build upon this framework and develop a more sophisticated classification system.

Keywords: gender; necessity entrepreneurship; opportunity entrepreneurship; China; India; entrepreneurship programmes; women entrepreneurs; female entrepreneurs; entrepreneurship policy; innovation; management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEIM.2014.062880

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2014 Vol.18 No.2/3, pp.154 - 181

Received: 05 Nov 2013
Accepted: 31 Jan 2014
Published online: 21 Jul 2014 *

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