Gender, borrowing patterns and self-employment: some evidence for England

This paper analyses the impact that financial constraints have on women's entrepreneurial choice. The empirical analysis is based on the data provided by the Household Survey of Entrepreneurship database that surveys individuals' intentions of becoming self-employed in England, UK. We do find evidence that women are less likely to seek external finance for business start-ups. This suggests that women in the general population perceive stronger financial barriers to business start-up than men, and this may be discouraging them from seeking external financial support. We find no evidence, however, that once women do seek finance for start-ups they are any less likely to obtain it than men.