Mastercard Index of
Women Entrepreneurs(MIWE) 2019

MIWE 2019

Table ofContents

5

6

7

1.0
Introduction

2.0
Overview of Key
Findings

5

13

19

2.1 Benchmark: WomenBusiness Owners

26

Description ofIndicator andSources

2.2 Results of The Mastercard
Index of Women
Entrepreneurs (2019)36

Key Changes to
Sub-Indicators

2.3 Component A: Women’s
Advancement Outcomes45

2.4 Component B: Knowledge
Assets & Financial Access55

2.5 Component C: Supporting
Entrepreneurial Conditions

1.1 Mastercard
Index of Women
Entrepreneurs
overview
1.2

1.3

2

MIWE 2019

3.0
Expectations of
Women’s Progress
as Business Owners

61

4.0
Conclusion

5.0
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

66

68

69

5.1 The United States74

5.2 Canada

79

5.3 Ireland84

5.4 New Zealand88

5.5 Switzerland

93

5.6 Singapore

99

5.7 The United Kingdom

104

5.8 Sweden

108

5.9 France

113

5.10 United Arab Emirates

3

MIWE 2019

1.0

4

1.1
Description ofIndicator and Sources

MIWE 20195

1.0

Introduction
1.1 Mastercard Index of Women
Entrepreneurs overview
There is unprecedented dynamism within the female entrepreneur community, with women across theworld opening successful businesses faster than ever before.
Now in its third year, the annual Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) continues to provide
invaluable insights into what is driving the progress and achievements of women in business across
58 world economies.
The Index pinpoints the many factors which enhance women’s entrepreneurialism; from access to
education and financial support to cultures that foster creativity, risk taking and innovation. Whilst also
shining a light on the social and cultural barriers to entry; from fear of failure to gender discrimination.
Through detailed analysis and deep-dive case studies of 10 markets, the MIWE provides fresh thinking forgovernments, policymakers, stakeholders, businesses and individuals alike which hold a vested interest in
designing a better world for women in business.

1.2
Key findings

MIWE 20196

1.0

Introduction
1.2. Key findings
This year’s MIWE reaffirms the idea of opportunity-driven entrepreneurial activity. High-income advanced
economies, with open, vibrant markets that support SMEs and ease of doing business – such as the US,
New Zealand and Canada – continue to dominate the global top rankings.
But, crucially, the MIWE highlights that women in business can still make significant headway in markets
with less supportive economic and social entrepreneurial conditions.
Overcoming economic barriers
We have seen a surge in female entrepreneurs in less economically developed economies. Faced withsignificant hurdles such as lack of employment opportunities and low tertiary education, women in somestand-out markets still thrive when driven by a sense of necessity. As a result, today, Uganda, Ghana, andBotswana have more women in business as a percentage of all business owners than any developed market.
Surpassing cultural hurdles
Similarly, female entrepreneurs have proved that they can overcome cultural and social barriers, such as
low recognition of individual success or an ingrained fear of failure. Women in Spain, Brazil, Uruguay, and
Hungary have shown high pronounced entrepreneurial tendencies despite receiving limited support orencouragement as entrepreneurs.
Adopting success factors
Not all women in business are able to overcome these challenges, however, with some Middle East andAfrican markets such as Egypt, Bangladesh, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Iran trailing significantly behind theirpeers. These markets demonstrate low scores for all three metrics examined within the MIWE, especiallywhen it comes to women’s role as business leaders, professionals/technical workers, active labor force
participants, and their ability to have fair access to financial services and products.
The key, therefore, to guaranteed success for women entrepreneurs, is consistency. Among this year’s top
performers is the US, which, for the first time since the Index’s inception, has replaced New Zealand as the
top MIWE performer, driven by a swell in entrepreneurial activity. Examining these top performers can help
us learn how to foster a supportive entrepreneurial environment.

1.3
MIWE
methodology

MIWE 20197

Spanning 58 markets and representing nearly 80 percent of the world’s female labor force, MIWE deploys
three components – comprised of 12 indicators and 25 sub-indicators –to examine these economies:
I.
Women’s Advancement Outcomes: A measure of women’s progress and degree of marginalization
1.2. Descriptionof Indicator
Sources
economicallyandandprofessionallyas business leaders, professionals & technical workers, entrepreneurs andlabor force participants.
The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) 2019 is the 3rd report profiling the progress and achievement of
women entrepreneurs/business owners across 58 societies around the world. With Angola as the newest market added toAssets& Financial
Access:A measureoffactors
women’s
the degreeofthe MiddleII.East &Knowledge
Africa region,
the Index
expands its
attempt
to track thethatprogressunderpin andthe gender
gap among
marginalization
they
face80%commerciallyas femalefinancialcustomers
academicallyterms ofaccessbusiness owners.
Representing
nearlyof the world’s
laborforce, we andhighlight
how the 58inmarkets
differat 3 totertiary
education
enrollment.
It
is
also
an
indicatorof
women’s
inclination
toborroworsaveforbusinesslevels: (i) Women’s Advancement Outcomes, (ii) Knowledge Assets & Financial Access, and (iii) Supporting Entrepreneurial
purposes,andshedhowmuchsupportis rendered
for SMEs.
Factors. The
results also
light
on whichfactors
and conditions
are the most conducive in helping to narrow the gender
gap among female entrepreneurs/business owners, or the most inhibitive and disabling, thereby weighing on women’s ability
to thrive inIII.business.
Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions: A measure of how supportive entrepreneurial conditions areeither enablers or constraints of women business ownership.
1.3. Key Changes to Sub-Indicators

is the benchmark
indicatorof the MIWE,
is derived
Women Business
Owners(as % of Total against
Business Women
Owners)1Business
The Index
is benchmarked
Ownership(measuredas a whichpercentage
of fromTotal
the 3 components,
12
indicators
and25
sub-indicators.
Itshould
be
noted
that
due
to
major
changesinestimations
bydata
Business Owners). It should be noted that due to major changes in estimations by data sources as well assources asthe
wellreplacements
as the replacements
11 sub-indicators
thathavebeen
beendiscontinued
discontinued ororno
regularly
updated,the theof 11 ofsub-indicators
that
have
nolongerlongerregularly
updated,MIWE scores
in
this
2019
publication
shouldnotbecompared
to
those
of
previous
publications.
MIWE scores in this 2019 publication should not be compared to those of previous publications.

Mastercard Index of Women
Entrepreneurs

Women’s Advancement
Outcomes(40%, 4 Indicators)

Benchmarked
againstKnowledge Assets &Financial Access(30%, 4 Indicators,
10 sub-indicators)

Women Business Owners(F%T)

Supporting
Entrepreneurial
Conditions(30%, 4 Indicators,
15 sub-indicators)

A1. Women Business
Leaders (F%T)

B1. Women Borrowing or
Saving for Business (F/M)(2 sub-indicators)

C1. Ease of Doing
Business

A2. Women Professionals& Technical Workers (F%T)

B2. Women Financial
Inclusion (F/M)(3 sub-indicators)

C2. Cultural Perceptionsof Women Entrepreneurs(5 sub-indicators)

A3. Women
Entrepreneurial Activity
Rate (F/M)

B3. Support for SMEs
(5 sub-indicators)

C3. Quality ofGovernance(5 sub-indicators)

A4. Women Labor Force
Participation (F/M)

B4. Women Tertiary
Education Gross
Enrollment Rate (F/M)

C4. Entrepreneurial
Supporting Factors(5 sub-indicators)

1.3
MIWE
methodology

MIWE 20198

The table below lists the 58 markets spanning five geographic (Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin
America,
Middle& markets
Africa) spanning
regions coveredby the(Asiaindex.
The
table below
listsEast
the 58five geographic
Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America, Middle East &Africa) regions covered by the index.
MarketCodeAustralia
Hong Kong SAR
Japan
Korea
New ZealandSingapore
Taiwan (China)
Mainland China
Malaysia
ThailandBangladesh
India
Indonesia
Philippines
Vietnam

AUS
HKG
JPN
KOR
NZL
SGP
TWN
CHN
MYS
THA
BGD
IND
IDN
PHL
VNM

Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
FranceGermany
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
PolandPortugal
Spain
SwedenSwitzerland
United Kingdom
IsraelRomania
RussiaTurkey

BEL
CZE
DNK
FRA
DEU
HUN
IRL
ITA
POL
PRT
ESP
SWE
CHE
GBR
ISR
ROU
RUS
TUR

CanadaUnited States

CAN
USA

Chile
UruguayArgentina
BrazilColombia
Costa Rica
EcuadorMexico
Peru

CHL
URY
ARG
BRA
COL
CRI
ECU
MEX
PER

Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates
Algeria*AngolaBotswana
Islamic Republic of IranSouth Africa
Egypt
Ghana
Nigeria
Tunisia
Ethiopia
Malawi
Uganda

SAU
ARE
DZA
AGO
BWA
IRN
ZAF
EGY
GHA
NGA
TUN
ETH
MWI
UGA

1

Income Level
Asia Pacific (15)High income
High income
High income
High income
High income
High income
High income
Upper middle income
Upper middle income
Upper middle income
Lower middle income
Lower middle income
Lower middle income
Lower middle income
Lower middle income
Europe (18)High income
High income
High income
High income
High income
High income
High income
High income
High income
High income
High income
High income
High income
High income
High income
Upper middle income
Upper middle income
Upper middle income
North America (2)High income
High income
Latin America (9)High income
High income
Upper middle income
Upper middle income
Upper middle income
Upper middle income
Upper middle income
Upper middle income
Upper middle income
Middle East & Africa (13)High income
High income
Upper middle income
Upper middle income
Upper middle income
Upper middle income
Upper middle income
Lower middle income
Lower middle income
Lower middle income
Lower middle income
Low income
Low income
Low income

Stage of Development

2

Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Efficiency Driven
Efficiency Driven
Efficiency Driven
Factor Driven
Factor Driven
Factor/Efficiency Driven
Factor Driven
Factor Driven
Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Efficiency/Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Efficiency/Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Efficiency/Innovation Driven
Efficiency/Innovation Driven
Efficiency/Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Innovation Driven
Efficiency/Innovation Driven
Efficiency/Innovation Driven
Efficiency Driven
Efficiency Driven
Efficiency Driven
Efficiency Driven
Efficiency Driven
Efficiency/Innovation Driven
Efficiency Driven
Factor/Efficiency Driven
Innovation Driven
Factor/Efficiency Driven
Efficiency Driven
Factor/Efficiency Driven
Efficiency Driven
Efficiency Driven
Factor/Efficiency Driven
Factor Driven
Factor Driven
Efficiency Driven
Factor Driven
Factor Driven
Factor Driven

Notes: * Angola is the newest market added to the MEA region in the 2019 MIWE publication. 1 World Bank GNI Per Capita Income Classifiers. 2 World Economic
Forum Stage of Development Classifiers
Notes: * Angola is the newest market added to the MEA region in the 2019 MIWE publication.
1

World Bank GNI Per Capita Income Classifiers.

BENCHMARK

5 |World
P a g eEconomics Forum Stage of Development
M a s tClassifiers.
e r c a r d I n d e x
2o f

W o m e n

E n t r e p r e n e u r s

2 0 1 9

1.3
MIWE
methodology

MIWE 20199

Indicator

Description(Source, Period)

Women Business Owners (F%T)-Women Business Owners as a % of Total Business Owners-Measures the bias against women compared to men as business owners defined as owners who employ at least one
employee other than themselves(International Labor Organization, 2018)

Component A: Women’s Advancement Outcomes
Indicator

Description(Source, Period)

A1. Women Business Leaders (F%T)- Women Business Leaders as a % of Total Business Leaders- Measures the bias against women compared to men as business leaders defined as general and corporate managers
who manage enterprises or their internal departments on the behalf of the proprietor.
(International Labor Organization, 2018)

A2. Women Professionals& Technical Workers (F%T)

A3. Women Entrepreneurial
Activity Rate (F/M)

A4. Women Labor Force
Participation (F/M)- Women Professionals & Technical Workers as a % of Total Professionals & Technical Workers- Measures the bias against women compared to men as Professionals, Associate Professionals and Technicians.
(International Labor Organization, 2018)- Total early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) of Females in the Female Working Age Population as % of TEA of Malesin the Male Working Age Population- Measures the bias against women compared to men in early stage entrepreneurial activity which assesses the percent
of working age population both about to start an entrepreneurial activity, and that have started one for a maximum of
3 and a half years.
(Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2009-2018)- Female Workforce Participation Rate/Male Workforce Participation Rate
- Measures the bias against women compared to men in the workforce defined as the proportion of a market’s
female/male working-age population that engages actively in the labor market, either by working or looking for work
(International Labor Organization, 2018)

Component B: Knowledge Assets and Financial Access
Description(Source, Period)

Indicator
B1. Women Borrowing or Savingfor Business (F/M)

Composite of 2 sub-indicators of %F/%M who Borrowed or Saved for Business(World Bank, Global Findex Database, 2017)% of Females/% of Males
who borrowed for business

Denotes the percentage of 15+ years old female divided by % of 15+ years old male respondents who report borrowing
any money in the past 12 months (by themselves or together with someone else) to start, operate, or expand a farm orbusiness% of Females/% of Males
who saved for business

Denotes the percentage of 15+ years old female divided by % of 15+ years old male respondents who report saving or
setting aside any money in the past 12 months to start, operate, or expand a farm or business

B2. Women Financial Inclusion(F/M)

Composite of 3 sub-indicators of %F/%M with Financial Account, a Debit Card or a Credit Card
(World Bank, Global Findex Database, 2017)% of Females/% of Males
who have an account at a financial
institution

Denotes the percentage of 15+ years old female divided by % of 15+ years old male respondents who report having an
account (by themselves or together with someone else) at a bank or another type of financial institution.

% of Females/% of Males
who have a debit card

Denotes the percentage of 15+ years old female divided by % of 15+ years old male respondents who report having adebit card.

% of Females/% of Males
who have a credit card

Denotes the percentage of 15+ years old female divided by % of 15+ years old male respondents who report having acredit card.

B3. Support for SMEs
Gender bias in access to financial
services

Composite of 5 sub-indicators of Financial Support for SMEs
Measures whether women and men have equal access to financial services by law or custom(OECD, Gender, Institutions and Development Database, 2019)*Single Government Agency for
New Businesses(New for 2019)

Reflects the perception of whether the physical infrastructure (roads, utilities, communications, waste disposal)
provides good support for new and growing firms(Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2015)
Reflects perception of whether almost anyone who needs help from a government program for a new or growing
business can find what they need
(Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2015)
Reflects perception of whether there are a wide range of government assistance for new and growing firms can beobtained through contact with a single agency(Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2015)*Effective Government Programs(New for 2019)

Reflect Perception of whether Government programs aimed at supporting new and growing firms are effective(Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2015)*Physical Infrastructure(New for 2019)*Government Program Support(New for 2019)6|P a g e

M a s t e r c a r d

I n d e xo f

W o m e n

E n t r e p r e n e u r s

2 0 1 9

1.3
MIWE
methodology

MIWE 201910

Note: * The 4 sub-indicators listed above under “B3. Support for SMEs”, namely, Physical Infrastructure, Government Program Support, Single Government
Agency for New Businesses, and Effective Government Programs are NEW. They replaced the previous sub-indicators from the 2018 iteration of the MIWE
Report (Availability of Finance Programs for Women, SME training & development programs, Ease of Access to Loans, and Affordability of Financial Services).
B4. Women Tertiary Education
Gross Enrollment Rate (F/M)

Gross female enrollment at the tertiary level as a percentage of tertiary age group female population (female tertiary
GER) divided by Gross male enrollment at the tertiary level as a percentage of tertiary age group male population (maletertiary GER) (UNESCO, 2012-2016 projected to 2017)

Component C: Entrepreneurial Supporting Conditions
Description(Source)

Indicator
C1. Ease of Doing BusinessMeasures the gap between an economy’s business regulation environment and the best practice(World Bank, Doing Business Database, 2018)

C2. Cultural Perceptions of
Entrepreneurs

Composite of 5 sub-indicators of cultural perceptions of entrepreneurial & leadership abilities* Values Success through
Personal Effort(New for 2019)

Reflects perception that national culture is highly supportive of individual success achieved through own personalefforts (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2015)* Values Personal Initiative(New for 2019)

Reflects perception that national culture emphasizes self-sufficiency, autonomy, and personal initiative (Global
Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2015)* Culture of Risk Taking(New for 2019)* Values Creativity &Innovativeness(New for 2019)

Reflects perception of whether the national culture encourages entrepreneurial risk-taking (Global Entrepreneurship
Monitor, 2015)* Values Individuality &Independence(New for 2019)

Reflects Perception of whether national culture emphasizes the responsibility that the individual (rather than thecollective) has in managing his or her own life
(Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2015)

Reflects Perception of whether national culture encourages creativity and innovativeness (Global Entrepreneurship
Monitor, 2015)

Note: * The 5 sub-indicators listed above under “C2. Cultural Perceptions of Entrepreneurs”, namely, Values Success through Personal Effort, Values
Personal Initiative, Culture of Risk Taking, Values Creativity & Innovativeness, and Values Individuality & Independence are NEW. They replaced the previous
5 sub-indicators from the 2018 iteration of the MIWE Report (Ability of women to rise to positions of leadership, Social acceptability of female
entrepreneurship, Social Encouragement of female entrepreneurship, Gender bias in exposure to good business opportunities, and Gender bias inentrepreneurial knowledge and skills)
C3. Quality of Governance
Government Effectiveness

Regulatory Quality

Composite of 5 governance sub-indicators(World Bank, World Governance Indicators, 2017)
Reflects perceptions of the quality of public services, the quality of the civil service and the degree of its independence
from political pressures, the quality of policy formulation and implementation, and the credibility of the government's
commitment to such policies.
Reflects perceptions of the quality of public services, the quality of the civil service and the degree of its independence
from political pressures, the quality of policy formulation and implementation, and the credibility of the government's
commitment to such policies.

Political Stability and Absence ofViolence/Terrorism

Measures perceptions of the likelihood of political instability and/or politically-motivated violence, including terrorism.

Control of Corruption

Reflects perceptions of the extent to which public power is exercised for private gain, including both petty and grandforms of corruption, as well as "capture" of the state by elites and private interests.

C4. Entrepreneurial Supporting
Factors

Composite of 5 sub-indicators on Entrepreneurial Supporting Factors*New Business Market Entry(New for 2019)

Reflects perception of whether new and growing firms can easily enter new markets(Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2015)* Skilled Employees(New for 2019)Intellectual Property Protection
Property Rights* Attitudes toward
Entrepreneurial Failure(New for 2019)

Perception of how easy it is to find skilled employees(WEF, Global Competitiveness Report, 2018)
Perceived extent of intellectual property protection (WEF, Global Competitiveness Report, 2018)
Perceived extent of protection of property rights, including financial assets (WEF, Global Competitiveness Report, 2018)
Perceived attitude toward entrepreneurial failure (WEF, Global Competitiveness Report, 2018)

Note: * The 3 sub-indicators listed above under “C4. Entrepreneurial Supporting Factors”, namely, New Business Market Entry, Skilled Employees, andAttitudes toward Entrepreneurial Failure are NEW. They replaced the previous 3 sub-indicators from the 2018 iteration of the MIWE Report (NewBusiness Government Programs, Quality of the Education System, and Intensity of Local Competition).

Supporting Data
7|P a g e

M a s t e r c a r d

I n d e xo f

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E n t r e p r e n e u r s

2 0 1 9

C4. Entrepreneurial Supporting
Factors

Composite of 5 sub-indicators on Entrepreneurial Supporting Factors*New Business Market Entry(New for 2019)

Reflects perception of whether new and growing firms can easily enter new markets(Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2015)* Skilled Employees

1.3(New for 2019)
MIWE
Intellectual Property Protection
methodology
Property Rights* Attitudes toward
Entrepreneurial Failure(New for 2019)

Perception of how easy it is to find skilled employees(WEF, Global Competitiveness Report, 2018)

MIWE 201911

Perceived extent of intellectual property protection (WEF, Global Competitiveness Report, 2018)
Perceived extent of protection of property rights, including financial assets (WEF, Global Competitiveness Report, 2018)
Perceived attitude toward entrepreneurial failure (WEF, Global Competitiveness Report, 2018)

Note: * The 3 sub-indicators listed above under “C4. Entrepreneurial Supporting Factors”, namely, New Business Market Entry, Skilled Employees, andAttitudes toward Entrepreneurial Failure are NEW. They replaced the previous 3 sub-indicators from the 2018 iteration of the MIWE Report (NewBusiness Government Programs, Quality of the Education System, and Intensity of Local Competition).

Supporting Data
7|P a g e

Indicator

Entrepreneurial Activity Rate
(Male and Female)

Necessity Driven Entrepreneurship(Male and Female)

Opportunity Driven
Entrepreneurship(Male and Female)M a s t e r c a r d

I n d e xo fDescription
E n t r e p r e n e u r s 2 0 1 9(Source)W o m e n

Total early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) of Females in the Female Working Age Population and TEA of Males in
the Male Working Age Population.
TEA is the percent of the working age population that is about to start an entrepreneurial activity, or that has started
one for a maximum of 3 and a half years.
(Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2009-2018)
Percentage females or males involved in female or male Total early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) respectively
who are involved in entrepreneurship because they had no other option for work
(Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2009-2018)
Percentage females or males involved in female or male Total early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) respectively
who (i) claim to be driven by opportunity as opposed to finding no other option for work; and (ii) who indicate the main
driver for being involved in this opportunity is being independent or increasing their income, rather than justmaintaining their income(Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, 2009-2018)

Parliament Representation(Male and Female)

Women or Men in Parliament as % of Total Parliament Members(Inter-parliamentary Union, 2018)

Labor Force Participation(Male and Female)

Female Workforce Participation Rate or Male Workforce Participation Rate
Where workforce participation rate is defined as the proportion of a market’s female/male working-age population thatengages actively in the labor market, either by working or looking for work
(International Labor Organization, 2018)

Employees as % of Labor Force(Male and Female)

Female or Male employees as a % of Female or Male Labor Force respectively- (International Labor Organization, 2017)

Tertiary Education Gross Enrollment
Rate(Male and Female)

Gross female or male enrollment at the tertiary level as a percentage of tertiary age group female or male population
respectively(UNESCO, 2012-2018 projected to 2018)

Secondary Education Gross
Enrollment Rate
(Male and Female)

2.

Gross female or male enrollment at the secondary level as a percentage of secondary age group female or malepopulation respectively(UNESCO, 2012-2018 projected to 2018)

OVERVIEW OF KEY FINDINGSMIWE 2019

2.0

12

2.0
Overview of
Key Findings

MIWE 201913

2.0

Overview of
Key Findings
The results from the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) 2019 echoed a positive correlation
with the Benchmark Women Business Owners. Women in the United States, New Zealand, and Canada
took the reins as the top 3 MIWE performers, displaying admirable and distinct traits of high womenbusiness ownership fueled by highly supportive and conducive entrepreneurial factors. Of the 58 markets,
American women outperformed all global peers, topping the MIWE chart in 1st spot (score of 70.3) driven
by an increase in ‘Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate (F/M)’ from 64.1% in 2018 to 76.8% in the latest
2019 data. Women in New Zealand continued to make astounding strides in the business world, securing
2nd spot in the MIWE (score of 70.2, only marginally lower than US’s score of 70.3) against a backdrop ofvery supportive entrepreneurial conditions. This likely played an instrumental role in promoting women’s rolein society as business owners (around 3 out of every 10 business owners are female). In 3rd place, Canadian
women are among the most highly represented globally as professionals and technical workers (57.6, rank4), and are best placed in terms of access to financial services and products (100.0, rank 1) and qualityof governance (95.0, rank 3). The latest results also point to an increase in female entrepreneurial activity
rate (up from 15.0% in 2017 to 17.0% in 2018) in Canada, contrasting the decline in men’s engagement inentrepreneurial activity from 22.6% in 2017 to 20.4% in 2018.

2.0
Overview of
Key Findings

MIWE 201914

Based on the latest updates from the International Labor Organization, women’s share of the businessworld for 2018 (Women Business Owners F%T) remained broadly unchanged with only slight variations
noted in a few markets: UAE (up 6.5% from 7.2 in 2017 to 7.7 in 2018), Costa Rica (up 3.2% from 20.9 in2017 to 21.6 in 2018), Tunisia (up 3.0% from 10.6 to 10.9), and Bangladesh (up 3.0% from 4.2 to 4.4).
It is encouraging to note women achieving gender equality in entrepreneurial activity rate in 7 markets(1 more than the previous year), including Ecuador, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Ghana, Nigeria,
and Uganda. This suggests that in these economies, women are just as inclined as men to engage inentrepreneurship.
In terms of ‘Component A: Women’s Advancement Outcomes’ as a measure of women’s ability to thriveas business leaders, professional & technical workers, entrepreneurs, and labor force participants, womenin Asia Pacific continue to make strong strides with 4 markets assuming the top 10 positions: Philippines(score of 65.7, rank 1), Thailand (rank 4), Vietnam (60.5, rank 7), and New Zealand (59.7, rank 10).
In terms of ‘Component B: Knowledge Assets & Financial Access’ as a proxy of women’s inclination toborrow or save to start a business, women’s access to financial services and products as well as tertiary
education, the latest findings showed women in Asia Pacific taking a prominent lead, with Malaysia,
Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam assuming 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th spots, respectively. Women in thesemarkets are driven by high access to financial products and services, strong support for SMEs, and highopportunities to tertiary education. The results also showed women in European markets such as Ireland,
Switzerland, the UK, France and Denmark positioned strongly in Component B: Knowledge Assets &Financial Access, fueled by very supportive and enabling underlying conditions for SMEs, and high accessto financial services and products. While women in most markets are equally or nearly as likely as men to
be enrolled in tertiary education, those in the Middle East & North African (MENA) lower-income markets
such as Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda, Angola, Ghana, and Nigeria continue to be marginalized with very low
opportunities for higher-level education.
In terms of Component C: Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions, women entrepreneurs in Asia Pacific,
Europe and North America are driven by favorable and enabling conditions such as high ease of doing
business, positive cultural and social regard for entrepreneurship, high quality of governance, availability ofskilled employees, proper business regulations and procedures such as intellectual property protection, andease of market entry for new businesses.

2.0
Overview of
Key Findings

MIWE 201915

Replacement of Sub-Indicators
It should be noted that 12 sub-indicators from the indicators ‘Support for SMEs’, ‘Cultural Perceptions of
Entrepreneurs’ and ‘Entrepreneurial Supporting Factors’ have been replaced since the previous iterationof the MIWE 2018 as they have been discontinued by the sources or are no longer being regularly updated.
Therefore, the data and rankings for this 2019 publication should not be compared with the previous 2
years’ publication.
Previous Sub-Indicator that has been Replaced due to
Discontinuity by Sources
Availability of Finance Programs for Women
SME Training & Development Programs

Previous Sub-Indicator that has been Replaced due toEasebyofSources
Access to Loans
Discontinuity
Availability of Finance Programs for Women
Affordability of Financial Services

SME Training& Development Programs
Ability of women to rise to positions of leadership

New Sub-Indicator
Physical Infrastructure
Government Program Support

Single Government Agency for New Businesses

Physical Infrastructure

Effective Government Programs

Government
Program Support
Values Success through Personal Effort

Easeacceptabilityof Access toof
Loans
Agencyfor New
Businesses
Socialfemale entrepreneurship Single Government
Values
Personal
Initiative
Affordabilityof FinancialofServices
Social encouragement
female entrepreneurship

Sub-indicators for‘Support for SMEs’ –Component B

New Sub-Indicator

Effective Government
Programs
Culture of Risk
takingSub-indicators for‘Support for SMEs’ –Sub-indicators
Component
B for‘Cultural Perceptionsof Entrepreneurs’ –Component C

Genderbias
exposure
to good
opportunities Values SuccessValues Creativity
and Innovativeness
Ability of
women
toinriseto positionsof businessleadership
through Personal
EffortSocial acceptability
entrepreneurship
Gender biasof
in femaleentrepreneurial
knowledge and skills
Social encouragementof femaleentrepreneurship
New BusinessGovernment
Programs

CultureRisk taking
NewofBusiness
Market Entry

Gender bias in exposure
to goodbusiness
opportunities
Qualityof theEducation
SystemValues Creativity
Ease toandfind Innovativeness
Skilled Employees

Gender bias in entrepreneurialand skills
Intensity ofknowledge
Local Competition
New Business Government Programs

Sub-indicators for‘Cultural
Perceptionsfor
Sub-indicatorsof Entrepreneurs’–‘Entrepreneurial
Component
C
Supporting Factors’–

ValuesAttitudes
individuality
andEntrepreneurial
IndependenceFailure
towardComponent C

Sub-indicators for‘Entrepreneurial
Quality of the Education System
Ease to find Skilled Employees
Supporting Factors’ –Component
Of the3 MIWE
Components,
Advancement
OutcomesFailure
recorded the mostchangesC from theIntensityof LocalCompetitionComponent A: Women’sAttitudes
toward Entrepreneurial
previous year due to fluctuationsin the sub-indicator‘Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate (F/M)’. As a proxy of bias
Componentsthat Changed
the Most
against women in early-stage entrepreneurial activities, the results pointed to sharp declines in some markets across all
Components that Changed the Most
regions,a widening in gender
gap. These
markets included:Ofthe 3suggesting
MIWE Components,
Component
A: Women’s
Advancement Outcomes recorded the most changes
Table
1: Sub-Indicators
thathave been• Components
that
Changedthereplaced
Most•

Values
Initiative
Values Personal
individuality
and Independence

New Business Market Entry

previous year
due2:tofluctuations
the sub-indicator‘WomenEntrepreneurial
Activityfrom
Rate theOf the 3 from
MIWEtheComponents,
Component
A: with
Women’s
Advancement
recorded
the most
Table
Markets
sharpinwidening
in genderOutcomesgap forentrepreneurial
activityrate changes
previous (F/M)’.
year due
the sub-indicator
Entrepreneurial
Activity
Rate (F/M)’.
As a pointed
proxy of tobias
Astoa fluctuations
proxy of biasinagainst
women in ‘Women
early-stage
entrepreneurial
activities,
the results
Marketin some
Declinein Women
Entrepreneurial
ActivityRate– F/Magainst womenin early-stage
entrepreneurial
activities,
theresults
pointedsharp
declinesin somemarkets
across all
sharp declines
markets
acrossall regions,suggestinga towidening
in gender
gap. These
markets
Mexicodown -35.6% from gender parity 100.0 to 64.4
regions, suggesting
widening in gender gap.
These markets included:
included: aSweden
down -35.0% from 64.8 to 42.1
Saudi Arabia
down -30.4% from 83.1 to 57.8
sharp
widening
in gender
Iran Table 2: Markets withdown
-22.7%
from 65.2
to 50.4gap for entrepreneurial activity rate
Singapore
down -22.0% from 61.9 to 48.3
Decline in
Women
Entrepreneurial
Activity Rate – F/M
India
down
-21.9%
from 79.6 to 62.1

MarketMexicodown -35.6% from gender parity 100.0 to 64.4
Swedendown -35.0% from 64.8 to 42.1
Saudi
Arabia-30.4%
from83.1
to 57.8 in:
In contrast, a narrowing indown
genderdividewasobserved
Irandown -22.7% from 65.2 to 50.4
Singapore
down-22.0% from
48.3
Table
3: Markets
with 61.9
sharptonarrowing
in gender gap for entrepreneurial activity rate
India
down -21.9% from 79.6 to 62.1
MarketIncrease in Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate – F/M
Franceup 73.5% from 43.6 to 75.7
Taiwanup 53.1%
from 56.4
In contrast, a narrowingin(China)
gender divide wasobserved
in: to 86.3
Indonesia
up 44.3% from 69.3 to 100.0
JapanTable 3: Markets withupsharp38.6%narrowing
from 43.1 into gender
59.7 gap for entrepreneurial activity rate
Costa Rica
up 36.8% from 69.0 to 94.5
Italy
up 31.5% from 38.7 to 50.9
MarketIncrease in Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate – F/M
Canadaup 25.6% from 66.4 to 83.3
Franceup 73.5% from 43.6 to 75.7
United States
up 19.9% from 64.1 to 76.8
Table 2: Markets with sharp widening in gender gap for entrepreneurial activity rate

Taiwan (China)

up 53.1% from 56.4 to 86.3

regions, suggesting a widening in gender gap. These markets included:
Table 2: Markets with sharp widening in gender gap for entrepreneurial activity rate
MarketMexico2.0
Sweden of
Overview
Saudi
ArabiaKey
Findings
IranSingapore
India

Decline in Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate – F/M
down -35.6% from gender parity 100.0 to 64.4
down -35.0% from 64.8 to 42.1
down -30.4% from 83.1 to 57.8
down -22.7% from 65.2 to 50.4
down -22.0% from 61.9 to 48.3
down -21.9% from 79.6 to 62.1

MIWE 201916

In contrast, a narrowing in gender divide was observed in:

In contrast, a narrowing in gender divide was observed in:Table 3: Markets with sharp narrowing in gender gap for entrepreneurial activity rate
MarketFranceTaiwan (China)
Indonesia
Japan
Costa Rica
Italy
CanadaUnited States

Increase in Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate – F/M
up 73.5% from 43.6 to 75.7
up 53.1% from 56.4 to 86.3
up 44.3% from 69.3 to 100.0
up 38.6% from 43.1 to 59.7
up 36.8% from 69.0 to 94.5
up 31.5% from 38.7 to 50.9
up 25.6% from 66.4 to 83.3
up 19.9% from 64.1 to 76.8

Table 3: Markets with sharp narrowing in gender gap for entrepreneurial activity rate

In Ecuador, Indonesia and Uganda, an increase in women’s participation in entrepreneurial activities brought them at parwith men (‘Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate F/M’ = 100.0). Meanwhile, improvements in Angola, Malawi, Costa Rico,
In Ecuador, Indonesia and Uganda, an increase in women’s participation in entrepreneurial activities brought
Thailand, UAE, and Taiwan (China) also helped narrow gender disparity.
them at par with men (‘Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate F/M’ = 100.0). Meanwhile, improvements in
Angola, Malawi, Costa Rico, Thailand, UAE, and Taiwan (China) also helped narrow gender disparity.

10 | P a g e•

Gender Bias

Gender Bias

M a s t e r c a r d

I n d e xo f

W o m e n

E n t r e p r e n e u r s

2 0 1 9The latest results also showed gender bias to be most pronounced in Component A: Women’s Advancement

The latest results also showed gender bias to be most pronounced in Component A: Women’s Advancement Outcomes,
Outcomes, especially with regards to women’s ability to rise in society as business leaders, professional andespecially with regards to women’s ability to rise in society as business leaders, professional and technical roles,
technical roles, entrepreneurs, and labor force participants.
entrepreneurs, and labor force participants.

Specifically,
women’srole asbusinessleaders
remainedparticularly
low inregions
the following
regions and markets:
Specifically,
women’s roleas businessleaders
remainedparticularly
lowin the following
and markets:
Table 4: Markets with Low Women Business Leaders Representation
RegionAsia PacificBangladesh
India
Japan
Korea
Middle East & Africa
Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates
Egypt
Tunisia
MalawiEuropeTurkeyLow Women Business Leaders (Female as % of Total)
10.6%
14.3%
12.0%
12.4%
6.7%
10.6%
6.5%
14.5%
14.6%
15.7%

Table 4: Markets with Low Women Business Leaders Representation

Women’s labor force participation rate remained particularly low in MEA markets such as Saudi Arabia (29.5%), UAE (54.8%),
Iran (23.6%), and Algeria (22.1%), and Turkey (46.2%) in Europe.
•

Correlation
betweenas Entrepreneurs& Wealth/Advancement
ofinEconomies
Women’slabor Progressforce participation
rate remained
particularly low
MEA markets such as Saudi Arabia(29.5%), UAE (54.8%), Iran (23.6%), and Algeria (22.1%), and Turkey (46.2%) in Europe.

The latest results from MIWE 2019 reaffirmed the trend that female business owners/entrepreneurs appear to flourish inhigh-income and advanced economies such as the US, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Switzerland and Singapore
where the component scores for women’s advancement, women’s knowledge assets and financial access, and underlying
entrepreneurial conditions are higher. In these open and vibrant markets where the support for SMEs and ease of doing
business are high, women tend to make further inroads in the business world and are able to establish a more prominent andempowered standing in society as business leaders and owners and active contributors to the economy (high labor force2.0
Overview of
Key Findings

MIWE 201917

Correlation between Progress as Entrepreneurs & Wealth/
Advancement of Economies
The latest results from MIWE 2019 reaffirmed the trend that female business owners/entrepreneurs
appear to flourish in high-income and advanced economies such as the US, New Zealand, Canada,
Australia, Ireland, Switzerland and Singapore where the component scores for women’s advancement,
women’s knowledge assets and financial access, and underlying entrepreneurial conditions are higher.
In these open and vibrant markets where the support for SMEs and ease of doing business are high,women tend to make further inroads in the business world and are able to establish a more prominent andempowered standing in society as business leaders and owners and active contributors to the economy(high labor force participation rates). For instance, out of the top 20 MIWE ranking markets, 80% are highincome economies (e.g. US and New Zealand), 10% are upper middle income (e.g. Thailand and Columbia),
and the remaining 10% lower middle income (e.g. Philippines and Vietnam).
In contrast, markets that scored and ranked lower in the MIWE 2019 results tend to be less wealthy anddeveloped and are concentrated in the Middle East and North African region. In these markets such as
Uganda, Malawi, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Iran, Algeria and the UAE, the conditions for women toadvance as entrepreneurs and business leaders and professionals are considerably less enabling, such as: (i)restraining social barriers that make women entrepreneurs less accepted/regarded in society; (ii) restrictive
financial barriers that prevent women from obtaining funding for business startups due to lack of collateral;and (iii) biased economic systems whereby women are sidelined in the workplace.

2.0
Overview of
Key Findings

MIWE 201918

Anomalies/Outliers
The results show women’s advancement as business owners/entrepreneurs in certain markets to be way
ahead of their global and regional peers. These are predominantly low, lower-middle or upper-middle income
and less developed economies in the MEA region such as Uganda, Malawi, Angola, Ghana, Botswana, andNigeria, where women appear to thrive in the business world in spite of weaker supportive entrepreneurial
conditions, and less knowledge assets and financial access. For instance, Angola, the newest market
added to the MIWE, demonstrate unique traits whereby women’s business ownership rates (F%T) andwomen’s entrepreneurial activity rates (F/M) are ranked very highly at 9th and 8th, respectively, despite
lagging markedly in Component B: Knowledge Assets & Financial Access and Component C: Entrepreneurial
Supportive Factors. In addition, women’s labor force participation rate is nearly at par with men (F/M:
94.2%, rank 1). There are various reasons why this may be the case.
From an economic perspective, employment prospects are very poor in Angola with the jobless rates
averaging around 20% in 2018. Growth dynamics have also been sluggish with annual GDP growth
rates disappointing in the contractionary zone (-0.1% in 2017 and -1.7% in 2018), dragged by declines in
the country’s all-important oil sector and muted growth in other core sectors such as agriculture, trade,
construction and production of minerals and diamonds. Given these tough conditions, women may bepressed to seek work in the labor force to help supplement family/household income or support oneself,
thus the high female labor force participation rate of 75.4% compared to 80.1% for men. Data also showed
women are not only nearly at par with men to be engaged in entrepreneurial activities (F/M: 99.3%, rank 8),of those who are entrepreneurs, nearly half are driven out of necessity (49.5% compared to 27.5% for men).
This could be due to several reasons: (i) lack of employment opportunities given the high national joblessrate of 20%, and (ii) very low female tertiary education gross enrollment rate of 8.5% suggests that mostare not qualified to work and are forced to start small businesses for a living.

2.1
Benchmark:
Women Business Owners

MIWE 201919

Women Business Owners (Female Owners as a percentage of Total Business Owners, F%T) is thebenchmark indicator of the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs 2019 (MIWE). The map below
depicts the latest women’s business ownership across the 58 markets measured.
Despite being less wealthy, less developed and lagging in terms of knowledge assets, financial access andsupporting entrepreneurial conditions, the MEA markets of Uganda (38.2%, rank 1), Ghana (37.9%, rank 2),
Botswana (36.0%, rank 3), Malawi (31.1%, rank 7) and Angola (30.3%, rank 9) are positioned among the top
10 globally in terms of Women’s Business Ownership Rates (F%T). For instance, in the leading markets ofUganda and Ghana, nearly 4 in every 10 business owners are female. These markets are ranked very low in
the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs 2019, largely due to inhibitive factors such as poor quality of
governance, low women financial inclusion (F/M), poor support for SMEs, less opportunities for women torise in the workplace as business leaders and professionals/technicians due to generally lower prospects for
tertiary education, and higher barriers to business.
According to research findings from the World Bank, women in MEA are generally marginalized in thefollowing ways:• Disparity in access to the Internet & Technology• Institutional barriers to accessing funding such as high interest rates, lack of collateral guarantees,complicated process and lack of business track record to secure financing• Restrictive cultural and social norms among Arab societies whereby women business owners are often
restricted by family or cultural expectations that impede them from accessing the financial and businessservices they need to help drive their business ventures• Lack of confidence needed to deal with the region’s bureaucracies and financial institutions because of
hostility and criticism they receive from communities.
Yet, despite being undermined by the prevalence of such persistent and widespread disparities andinequalities, women’s determination to start their own business in these lower income and factor-driven
MEA markets cannot be overlooked. In fact, the results show women in 3 markets being equally driven as
men to pursue entrepreneurial activities (F/M of 100.0), and nearly at par in 2 markets (Angola and Malawi
with F/M ratios of 99.3 and 94.5, respectively). More importantly, it brings to light how much more womencan contribute economically and socially if such barriers are removed, or systems improved.

2.1
Benchmark:
Women Business Owners

MIWE 201920

High rates of women business ownership ranging between 30% to 35% are also found in other regions highlighted in yellow color
on the map such as North America (United States, 35.1%) and Asia Pacific (New Zealand, 31.8%). WBO rates are also quite highacross most European markets (indicated in white color on the map) such as: Portugal (30.2%), Spain (29.9%) and Hungary (28.4%).
In general, the high representation of female business owners in these European markets appear to be positively correlated to2.1
Benchmark:
Women Business Owners

MIWE 201921

High rates of women business ownership ranging between 30% to 35% are also found in other regions
highlighted in yellow color on the map such as North America (United States, 35.1%) and Asia Pacific(New Zealand, 31.8%). WBO rates are also quite high across most European markets (indicated in whitecolor on the map) such as: Portugal (30.2%), Spain (29.9%) and Hungary (28.4%). In general, the highrepresentation of female business owners in these European markets appear to be positively correlated tohigh women business leadership (F%T), high women tertiary education gross enrollment rate (F/M), fairly
strong women labor force participation rate (F%T), as well as good quality of governance, ease of doing
business and entrepreneurial supporting factors. These markets are also ranked highly in the Mastercard
Index of Women Entrepreneurs 2019.
Meanwhile, women business ownership of between 20-25% (pink) are scattered across the globe in Latin
America (Colombia and Costa Rica), MEA (South Africa), Asia Pacific (Indonesia and Thailand), and Europe(Denmark, Ireland, and Czech Republic). Finally, economies where WBO rates are very low of between 10 to
20% (shaded in red and orange) are scattered across all regions with the lowest situated in MEA and Asia:
Saudi Arabia (WBO 1.6%), Egypt (4.1%), Bangladesh (4.4%). These economies also scored very poorly in the
MIWE 2019 index, mostly weighed down by poor progress in women’s advancement as business leaders andprofessionals, lack of access to financial service and products, and lower quality of governance.
The reverse is also observed in other markets such as Australia, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Uruguay, Belgium,
Brazil, Malawi, Russia, Peru, and Great Britain where high WBO rates are achieved irrespective of very
poor or negative cultural perception of entrepreneurship. For instance, societies in Europe such as Italy andHungary convey notably less recognition for individual success attained through personal effort and initiative
than peers in Ireland, Portugal and Great Britain. In Italy, this could be due to the higher fear of failure (52%compared to global and regional averages of 36% and 39%), in turn hindering further growth in WomenBusiness Ownership rate of 25.2% despite the availability of schemes such as the zero-interest loans forstartups and the Guarantee Fund for SMEs (Fondo di Garanzia) which helps startups by guaranteeing 80%
of a bank loan.ii

2.1
Benchmark:
Women Business Owners

MIWE 201922

India: Low Progress in Women Business Ownership/
Entrepreneurship but Some Public Initiatives being Rolled Out
In India, out of 100 business owners, only 7 are female. In fact, data from GEM showed a -21.9% decline
in Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate (F/M) from 79.6% in 2017 to 62.1% in 2018 due to an increase inmen’s entrepreneurial activity rate from 10.3% to 14.0%, leading to a widening in gender gap. Of those whostarted a business, half (49.9%) do so out of necessity, rather than to pursue an opportunity – this is similar
for males (44.2%). The motivation or ability to grow a business among the adult population is very low, with
only 8% expecting to create 6 or more jobs over the next 5 years – one of the lowest rates among the 60
markets measured by GEM. This compares poorly against the global and regional averages of 21% and 23%,
respectively. This may be due to the fact that more than half of adult are risk-averse: ‘Fear of Failure Rate’of 50% compared to 36% globally and 38% regionally. This is reflected in the low entrepreneurial intention
rate of 21% (2018) compared to 24% globally and 26% regionally. Despite this, India stands out for its highproportion of innovative entrepreneurs, with nearly half report they have innovative services or products. iii
Although interest rates have been on a downward trend over the late 2018 and 2019, and the Indian
government has recently launched a 59-minute loan platform to make access to credit for micro, small
and medium enterprises (MSME) easier , women’s inclination to borrow for business purposes remained
unchanged, averaging at 5.7% over 2016 to 2018. However, there has been a slight increase in women’s
tendency to save to start a business, rising from 4.5% in 2016 to 7.3% in 2018. This suggests that for every
100 women who saved, 7 did so with the intention to use the savings to fund a business startup. For mostnascent entrepreneurs, despite the availability of a number of private equity and debt funding options,
getting funding at the onset of a business idea or early phase of an entrepreneurial pursuit is not easy.
Reports showed that less than 5% of MSMEs have access to formal credit, while others rely on informal
sources to fund their businesses. This may explain the lower business ownership and low entrepreneurial
activity rates.
In order to overcome the challenges of setting up business, the government has recently launched a
59-minute loan platform that allows for easy access to credit for micro, small and medium enterprises(MSME). Data from the World Bank “Doing Business Database, 2018” pointed to an improvement in ‘Easeof Doing Business’ in India from 60.6 (rank 44) to 67.2 (rank 39) as well as an increase in ‘Women Financial
Inclusion (F/M)’ from 58.2 (rank 51) to 69.0 (rank 43).

2.1
Benchmark:
Women Business Owners

MIWE 201923

Opportunity versus Necessity-Driven EntrepreneurshipIn general, business ownership rates tend to be driven by perceived good opportunities whereby individuals
seek to improve their income or financial independence. However, the index findings showed that there arecases where businesses are not always initiated on opportunistic grounds. These are found in the leading
women business ownership (WBO) markets in MEA (Uganda, Ghana, Botswana, Malawi and Angola) andin Europe (Russia and Belgium). Here, women tend to start businesses out of necessity, especially in Ghana,
Botswana, Russia, Malawi, Angola and Brazil where around 4 in 10 entrepreneurs are driven into businessout of necessity. In developed markets such as Australia, Hungary, UK, Switzerland, Canada, Belgium andthe US, high fear of failing rates (above 35%) do not appear to deter women from wanting to improve theirincome or financial situations. In these markets, more than 7 out of every 10 entrepreneurs are driven byopportunities.
The findings also showcased women’s ability to thrive as business owners and pursue opportunities even
The findings also showcased women’s ability to thrive as business owners and pursue opportunities even where cultural andwhere cultural and social conditions are not optimal. These are demonstrated in Spain, Brazil, Uruguay,social conditions are not optimal. These are demonstrated in Spain, Brazil, Uruguay, and Hungary where WBO rates andand Hungary where WBO rates and Improvement-Driven Opportunity entrepreneurial tendencies are both
Improvement-Driven Opportunity entrepreneurial tendencies are both high in spite of the lack of cultural acceptance/social
high in spite of the lack of cultural acceptance/social encouragement. In the United States, New Zealand,encouragement. In the United States, New Zealand, Canada, UK, Vietnam and Switzerland, high WBO rates are consistent
Canada,Vietnam
Switzerland,
high
rates
areforconsistent
with highto pursue
with highUK,
tendencies
to andpursueopportunities
andWBO
positive
regardentrepreneurship.
In tendencies
the leading marketsof Uganda,
opportunities
andpositive
regardfor entrepreneurship.
In theleading
Uganda,Ghana,
andlow
New
Ghana, and New
Zealand,women
are ableto thrive in the businessworld
due tomarkets
amicable ofsocialconditionsand veryfear
Zealand,of failure.women are able to thrive in the business world due to amicable social conditions and very low fearof failure.

Table 5: Correlation between Markets with High WBO Rates & Other Entrepreneurial Conditions

Markets with HighWBO Rates

WBO
Rates (%)

UgandaGhana
Botswana
United States
New ZealandRussiaMalawi
Australia
AngolaPortugal
Spain
BrazilUruguay
Hungary
PolandUnited Kingdom
Belgium
Peru
CanadaVietnam
Switzerland

38.2
37.9
36.0
35.1
31.8
31.2
31.1
30.9
30.3
30.2
29.9
28.9
28.8
28.4
28.0
27.9
27.8
27.7
27.3
27.0
26.6

Improvement-Driven
Opportunity
Entrepreneurial(Relative Prevalence)
54.2
44.1
50.1
78.3
78.9
54.2
29.4
82.2
57.0
77.7
70.7
61.8
66.3
77.4
90.9
84.2
44.3
73.2
79.3
84.2
87.1

Necessity-Driven
Entrepreneurial(Relative Prevalence)

Fear of Failing
Rate
(%)

Cultural Perceptionof Entrepreneurs(Index Score)

18.9
33.3
35.6
8.1
7.2
39.8
43.7
16.8
38.8
20.8
22.6
37.5
29.4
20.1
8.4
12.9
27.5
23.1
13.7
15.9
7.4

12.6
24.6
18.9
35.2
22.0
46.4
15.1
41.4
16.6
38.1
36.2
32.6
27.4
43.2
31.1
37.7
48.9
30.2
42.3
46.6
39.9

67.2
63.1
51.9
75.6
61.6
55.1
48.3
52.9
57.6
58.0
48.9
43.2
39.9
35.8
48.6
59.4
45.7
55.2
66.2
60.4
65.3

Source: GEM 2018 Adult Population Survey
Table 5: Correlation between Markets with High WBO Rates & Other Entrepreneurial Conditions
Source:GEM 2018 Adult
Population Survey• Inter-Regional
Differences
in WBOThe results showed that there are inter-regional differences in women’s ability to succeed in the business world. This ismost apparent in Middle East and Africa (MEA) and Asia Pacific. While women outperform as business owners in MEA markets
such as Uganda, Ghana, Botswana, Malawi and Angola, their regional peers in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Algeria, UAE, Tunisia
and Ethiopia trail substantially with very low WBO rates of 15% and below. These markets tend to have very poor scores for
all 3 components, especially in terms of women’s role as business leaders, professionals/technical workers, active labor force
participants, and their ability to have fair access to financial services and products. Similarly, in Asia Pacific, women in New

2.1
Benchmark:
Women Business Owners

MIWE 201924

Inter-Regional Differences in WBO
The results showed that there are inter-regional differences in women’s ability to succeed in the businessworld. This is most apparent in Middle East and Africa (MEA) and Asia Pacific. While women outperformas business owners in MEA markets such as Uganda, Ghana, Botswana, Malawi and Angola, their regional
peers in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Algeria, UAE, Tunisia and Ethiopia trail substantially with very low WBO
rates of 15% and below. These markets tend to have very poor scores for all 3 components, especially interms of women’s role as business leaders, professionals/technical workers, active labor force participants,
and their ability to have fair access to financial services and products. Similarly, in Asia Pacific, women in
New Zealand, Australia and Vietnam surpass their regional peers such as Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, South
Korea and Japan in terms of their share of the female business world.

Changes in WBO Score & Ranking: 2018 to 2019
Table 6 below shows that over the past 12 months, the Women Business Ownership Rate (F%T) scoresand rankings of the 58 markets remained broadly unchanged. An increase of 2% or more was observed in 4
markets: Tunisia (up 3.0% from 10.6 in 2018 to 10.9 in 2019), Costa Rica (up 3.1% from 20.9 to 21.6), UAE(up 6.5% from 7.2 to 7.7), and Bangladesh (up 3.0% from 4.2 to 4.4). Some markets registered marginal
declines, with Saudi Arabia pulling back slightly by -2.8% from 1.65 to 1.60. The overall rankings remainedlargely similar, with minor shifts in rankings of 1 spot in some markets. Only 3 markets posted changes inrankings of 2 spots: Belgium (down 2 places from 15th to 17th), Algeria (down 2 from 52nd to 54th), andUAE (up 2 from 54th to 52nd).

2.1
Benchmark:
Women Business Owners

MIWE 201925

Table 6: Change in Score & Ranking for Women Business Ownership (F%T) – 2018 to 2019
Women Business Owners (F%T) SCORE
Women Business Owners (F%T) RANKING
Change inChange in
2019
2018*
2019
2018
SCORE (%)
RANKING (+/-)
Uganda
38.2
0.3
1
0
38.1
1
Ghana
37.9
0.2
2
0
37.8
2
Botswana
36.0
0.0
3
0
36.0
3
United States
35.1
-0.1
4
0
35.1
4
New Zealand
31.8
1.4
5
0
31.4
5
Russia
31.2
0.5
6
0
31.0
6
Malawi
31.1
0.2
7
0
31.0
7
Australia
30.9
0.2
8
0
30.8
8
**Angola
30.3
0.2
10
+1
30.2
9
Portugal
30.2
-0.3
9
-1
30.3
10
Spain
29.9
0.2
11
0
29.8
11
Brazil
28.9
0.4
13
+1
28.8
12
Uruguay
28.8
-1.5
12
-1
29.2
13
Hungary
28.4
0.0
14
0
28.4
14
Poland
28.0
0.4
16
+1
27.9
15
United Kingdom
27.9
0.4
17
-1
27.8
16
Belgium
27.8
-1.0
15
-2
28.1
17
Peru
27.7
0.2
18
0
27.6
18
Canada
27.3
0.0
19
0
27.3
19
Vietnam
27.0
1.1
20
0
26.6
20
Switzerland
26.6
0.0
21
0
26.6
21
Argentina
26.4
-0.5
22
0
26.5
22
Romania
26.4
0.0
24
+1
26.4
23
Singapore
26.3
-0.6
23
-1
26.5
24
Philippines
25.8
0.9
26
+1
25.6
25
Germany
25.7
0.3
25
-1
25.6
26
Mainland China
25.6
0.8
27
0
25.4
27
France
25.5
0.3
28
0
25.4
28
Nigeria
25.3
0.8
30
+1
25.1
29
Colombia
25.3
0.4
29
-1
25.2
30
Italy
25.2
0.5
31
0
25.0
31
Chile
25.0
0.8
32
0
24.8
32
Thailand
23.4
0.7
33
0
23.2
33
Ireland
22.9
0.0
35
+1
22.9
34
Denmark
22.7
-1.1
34
-1
23.0
35
Czech Republic
22.4
0.6
36
0
22.3
36
Ecuador
22.3
1.3
37
0
22.0
37
Costa Rica
21.6
3.1
39
+1
20.9
38
South Africa
21.5
0.5
38
-1
21.4
39
Indonesia
20.3
1.4
41
+1
20.0
40
Taiwan (China)
20.2
0.4
40
-1
20.1
41
Hong Kong SAR
19.8
0.9
43
+1
19.6
42
Sweden
19.8
0.0
42
-1
19.8
43
Mexico
19.0
0.7
45
+1
18.9
44
Israel
18.8
-0.7
44
-1
19.0
45
Japan
17.3
1.9
46
0
16.9
46
South Korea
16.8
1.3
47
0
16.6
47
Malaysia
16.2
1.3
48
0
16.0
48
Ethiopia
15.0
0.5
49
0
14.9
49
Tunisia
10.9
2.9
50
0
10.6
50
Turkey
9.2
1.5
51
0
9.1
51
United Arab Emirates
7.7
6.1
54
+2
7.2
52
India
7.4
1.0
53
0
7.3
53
Algeria
7.3
-1.1
52
-2
7.4
54
Islamic Republic of Iran
6.2
-0.4
55
0
6.2
55
Bangladesh
4.4
2.9
56
0
4.2
56
Egypt
4.1
1.6
57
0
4.0
57
Saudi Arabia
1.60
-2.9
58
0
1.65
58
Note: *Scores for 2018 are different from that shown in the previous year’s report due to data updates. **Angola is the newest market added to MIWE 2019
Table 6:International
Change in Score& Ranking for
Women Business Ownership (F%T) – 2018 to 2019
Source:Labor Organization,
2018
Note: *Scores for 2018 are different from that shown in the previous year’s report due to data updates.
Market**Angola is the newest market added to MIWE 201916 | P a g e

M a s t e r c a r d

Source: International Labor Organization, 2018

I n d e xo f

W o m e n

E n t r e p r e n e u r s

2 0 1 9

2.2
Results of the Mastercard Index
of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE)

MIWE 201926

The results from the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) 2019 reaffirmed a positive

2.2.

correlation with the Benchmark Women Business Owners (WBO). Women in the United States, New

RESULTS OF THE MASTERCARD INDEX OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS (MIWE)

Zealand, and Canada topped the charts, displaying strong and distinct traits of high WBO driven byhighlyfrom
conducive
entrepreneurial
the map below,
markets
in green
and yellow
The results
the Mastercard
Index conditions.
of Women In
Entrepreneurs(MIWE)
2019colored
reaffirmed
a positive
correlation with thearerankedhighly,
with
WBO
rates
ranging
from
60%
to
80%.
In
these
markets,thesub-indicatorsofBenchmark Women Business Owners (WBO). Women in the United States, New Zealand, and Canada topped
the charts,‘WomenEntrepreneurial
Activity
Rate
–
F/M’,
‘Supportfor
SMEs’,
‘Ease
of
Doing
Business’,and‘Qualityofdisplaying strong and distinct traits of high WBO driven by highly conducive entrepreneurial conditions. In the map below, markets
quite
coloredGovernance’in green andare
yellow
arehigh.
ranked highly, with WBO rates ranging from 60% to 80%. In these markets, the sub-indicators of‘Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate – F/M’, ‘Support for SMEs’, ‘Ease of Doing Business’, and ‘Quality of Governance’ are quite
high.

2.2
Results of the Mastercard Index
of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE)

17 | P a g e

MIWE 2019M a s t e r c a r d

I n d e xo f

W o m e n

E n t r e p r e n e u r s

27

2 0 1 9For the first time since the MIWE’s 2017 publication, the United States moved to first place, fueled by asurge in women’s entrepreneurial activity rate from 64.1% to 76.8%, and strong standing in Component C:
Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions (especially in terms of Ease of Doing Business, Cultural perception of
Entrepreneurs, and Entrepreneurial Supporting Factors).
Women in New Zealand continue to make strong strides in the business world, securing 2nd spot in the
MIWE (score of 70.2, only marginally lower than US’s score of 70.3,). Although retreating from last year’s
top ranking, women in New Zealand continue to be supported by highly enabling entrepreneurial conditions
such as ‘Ease of Doing Business’ (86.6, rank 1) and ‘Quality of Governance’ (98.4, rank 1), and high ‘Women
Financial Inclusion – F/M’ (100.0, rank 1).
In 3rd place, women in Canada continue to be empowered in the business world by high financial inclusion,
superior quality of governance, and positive cultural perception of entrepreneurs. More pointedly, thesimultaneous increase in women’s entrepreneurial activity rate from 15.0% in 2017 to 17.0% in 2018 anddecline in men’s activity rate from 22.6% to 20.4% helped narrow the gender gap.

2.2
Results of the Mastercard Index
of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE)

MIWE 201928

Laggards in MIWE: Middle East & Africa and Asia Pacific
The MIWE 2019 results showed markets in MEA and Asia Pacific to be the laggards on a global scale.
Specifically, women in these societies continue to be held back by lack of opportunities to assume higherlevel economic roles such as business leaders, and professionals/technical workers. They are also severely
marginalized by poor support for SMEs, low financial inclusion, poor opportunities for tertiary education,and often restrictive and underdeveloped business and financial systems that make doing business difficult.
More importantly, women here often have to contend with social and cultural norms that discourage themfrom working, being ambitious or having high status (such as owing a business), or assuming leadershiproles. For example, in Bangladesh, women are placed the weakest compared to their global peers in termsof: (i) Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate – F/M, 20.6, rank 58 with only 4.3% of entrepreneurs beinga female; (ii) Women Financial Inclusion – F/M (36.1, rank 58, with very few women qualified to own acredit and debit card), and (iii) Ease of Doing Business (42.0, rank 58 due to barriers such as bureaucratic
inefficiencies and corruption).

Correlation between Progress as Entrepreneurs & Wealth/
Advancement of Economies
The results revealed that some of the highest women business ownership (WBO) rates are found in lesswealthy and less advanced economies. For instance, out of the top 10 markets in terms of WBO, 3 are from
low income, factor-driven economies (Uganda, Ghana and Malawi), 3 from upper middle income, Factor orFactor/Efficiency driven markets (Russia, Botswana, Angola), and 4 from High Income, innovation-driven
economies (United States, New Zealand, Australia and Portugal). In the lower-income and less developed
economies where social, economic, financial and educational conditions are less favorable and accessible
to women, the need/pressure to survive or increase income sources by pursuing business opportunities
tend to be higher compared to wealthier and more advanced societies where job opportunities, accessto education and business/financial infrastructure is more widespread and prevalent. Women in thesewealthier markets tend to have access to more support in the form of government programs for SMEs, highfinancial inclusion, and more social acceptance, support and recognition of women pursuing entrepreneurial
activities. These markets include United States, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, Switzerland, Australia andPortugal tend to be ranked high in the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE).

2.2
Results of the Mastercard Index
of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE)

MIWE 201929

Correlation between Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) and Established
Business Rates
The results also showed that although Women’s Entrepreneurial Activity Rate (F/M) is high in some
economies such as Angola (99.3%), Canada (88.3%), US (76.8%), Chile (73.1%) and Peru (87.4%), theestablished business rates here tend to be notably lower, suggesting that not all startup efforts grow into
mature businesses. This is observed across all income levels. Such challenges in sustaining and growing
a business could stem from competitive pressures, lack of market dynamics or demand, or other factors
such as bureaucracy, economic or political stability or corruption. For instance, in general, total early-stage
entrepreneurial activity rates (TEA) in Angola is around 40%, but established business rates is less than half
at around 15%. Big differences are also noted elsewhere in Chile (TEA of 25% vs around 8% establishedbusiness rate), Canada (20% vs 7%), US (16% vs 7%), mainland China (11% vs 3%), Saudi Arabia (12% vs3%), and Israel (12% vs 4%).

2.2
Results of the Mastercard Index
of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE)

MIWE 201930

Outliers – Lower & Upper Middle-Income Markets in Asia Pacific &MEA Outperform
The lower- and upper-middle income Asia Pacific markets of Philippines (65.1), Thailand (64.6), Vietnam(63.4), Malaysia (62.7) Indonesia (62.1) and mainland China (60.7) impressed with relatively high MIWE
scores despite being less wealthy and developed. In these markets, women’s role as professional andtechnical workers (F%T), labor force participants, and entrepreneurs is quite high. Notably, women inIndonesia, Philippines and Vietnam are at par with men in entrepreneurship (‘Women Entrepreneurial
Activity Rate – F/M’ at 100.0). They are also more likely to borrow or save for business purposes (F/M) thantheir regional peers, especially in the Philippines (88.4, rank 4) and Vietnam (89.9, rank 3). In Malaysia,
women are strongly placed, driven by conducive business conditions such as high ‘Support for SMEs’ (71.5,
rank 6), ‘Ease of Doing Business’ (80.6, rank 11), positive ‘Cultural Perception of Entrepreneurs’ (63.9,
rank 13), and strong ‘Entrepreneurial Supporting Factors’ (72.2, rank 11). In mainland China, womenare relatively active as entrepreneurs, and are more likely to be driven by opportunities than their malecounterparts. Although there is no gender bias in terms of tertiary education enrollment in mainland China,
their role as business leaders, professionals and technicians, and business owners is lower than expected.
In MEA, Ghana and Botswana are the only 2 lower- and upper-middle income markets ranked among the
top 30 in the MIWE 2019 results. In Botswana (MIWE score 61.6, rank 28), women outshine nearly all theirglobal peers in terms of their share of the female business world (F%T of 36.0, rank 3). Not only this, they
are nearly as ambitious as their male counterparts to pursue business opportunities (as opposed to being
necessity-driven) in order to increase their income or financial independence (61.9% for female against
67.9% for male). They also have a strong representation as business leaders in their society, accounting
for nearly 4 out of every 10 leaders. This is not surprising, given that women’s tertiary education grossenrollment rate (27.3%) is higher than men’s (18.9%).
In Ghana, women continue to flourish in Component A: Women’s Advancement Outcomes, including highlabor force participation (89.0, Rank 4), women business leadership (37.2% of total, rank 11), and surpassing
their male counterparts in engaging in entrepreneurial activities (27.9% vs 23.5% for male). Their ability to
thrive in these aspects explain their particularly high standing in society as business owners (37.9%, rank 2,
trailing Uganda at 38.2%), despite poor underlying entrepreneurial supporting factors. Compared to theirregional peers in Malawi, Uganda and Angola, women in Ghana tend to be more inclined to have a bankaccount, likely due to their higher level of engagement in business activities. For instance, nearly 40% of
women in Ghana have an account at a bank or financial institution compared to only around 20% in Angola,
Malawi and Nigeria.

2.2
Results of the Mastercard Index
of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE)

MIWE 201931

Wealthy Markets that Underperformed
Despite being wealthy nations, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in MEA, Italy and Czech
Republic in Europe, and Japan in Asia Pacific underperformed with lower than expected MIWE scoresof 56.0 points and below, trailing in the bottom 16 positions. In most of these markets, although womenare at par or nearly at par with men in terms of tertiary qualifications, they lag in terms of their ability or
inclination to start businesses or rise into positions of leadership, professionals and labor force participants.
Even in highly developed markets such as Italy and Japan, the availability of support for SMEs is
considerably lower. In addition, the fear of business failure rate among adults in these 2 markets are higher
than the global average: 51.7% for Italy and 46.4% for Japan compared to the global average of 36.2%
in 2018). In Japan, Czech Republic and Italy, society’s perception of entrepreneurship and the quality of
governance are notably less favorable compared to other high-income and advanced markets such as Hong
Kong SAR, New Zealand and Switzerland.

High Opportunity & Capability Perceptions but Low WomenBusiness Ownership
GEM’s 2018/19 results pointed out situations where people identified business opportunities around them,
yet few are taking the initiative to open shop. This is observed across the regions in India, Sweden, Poland,
Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In Saudi Arabia and India, high fear of business failure may explain why businessstartups tend to be lower.
The situation in Saudi Arabia warrants mentioning. Here, although women’s business ownership rate is theabsolute lowest compared to the other 57 markets with only an average of only 1.6% business owners beinga female, in general, the perception of opportunity and capability to start a business is very strong among
the adult population aged 18 to 64:•

Perceived Opportunity Rate of 76% compared to global and regional averages of 46% and 45%,
respectively, and•Perceived Capabilities Rate of 83%, nearly double the global and regional averages of 49%.

This is very surprising, given that the underlying entrepreneurial supporting conditions and in Saudi Arabia
are not very conducive: ‘Ease of Doing Business’ (63.5, rank 43) and ‘Quality of Governance’ (42.6, rank 40).
Data also show gender bias to be prevalent on many fronts:•

low women’s engagement in entrepreneurial activity rate - only 8.5% of women are entrepreneurs•

very low women labor force participation rate – only 23.4% of working age women are working or
actively looking for work,•

very low female parliament representation (19.9% compared to 80.1% for males)•

very weak women financial inclusion, F/M (60.3, rank 50), andextremely low percentage of women in business leadership roles (6.7% vs 93.3% for men).

2.2
Results of the Mastercard Index
of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE)

MIWE 201932

GEM’s findings also placed Saudi Arabia as the most affiliated cohort with entrepreneurs with up to 79%
of the general population personally knowing an entrepreneur. These unique circumstances likely explain
why Saudi Arabia has the lowest women business ownership, but of those women who own a business,they tend to be very ambitious, innovative and demonstrate high competence in growing and bringing theirbusiness to global grounds.

Markets that Improved
Of the 58 markets, those that improved by 3% or more included: Ireland (+3.7%), France (+7.3%), Indonesia(+3.4%) and Costa Rica (+3.5%). Economies that pulled back in their overall MIWE scores by -3.0% or more
included: Sweden (-6.8%), Mexico (-5.2%), South Africa (-4.5%), Islamic Republic of Iran (-4.0%), Colombia(-3.6%), Singapore (-3.5%), Peru (-3.4%), Romania (-3.3%), and Germany (-3.2%).
Of those markets that improved, France stood out with the biggest rise in score, up from 60.4 in theprevious MIWE publication to 64.8, propelling it upwards by 22 positions from 34th to 12th place. AlthoughFrench women’s business ownership rate remained stable (25.4% in 2017 compared to 25.5% in 2018),
Component A: Women’s Advancement Outcome rose markedly by 15.0% from 48.8 points (rank 42) to56.1 (rank 20), driven by a near-double increase in ‘Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate (F/M)’ from 43.6
(rank 51) to 75.7 (rank 24). For women, this represented an increase in the percentage of women who plan
to start an entrepreneurial activity or has started one for a maximum of 3 and a half years from 2.4% in2017 to 5.3% in 2018. While the number is small, it is still significant as it shows an increase in women’s
engagement in business as well as a narrowing of the gender gap, especially given the lack of internalmarket dynamics and positive social regard for entrepreneurship in France (GEM, 2018).
Improvement was also observed in France for Component B: Knowledge Assets & Financial Access with
‘Women Borrowing or Saving for Business – F/M’ rising from 47.3 (rank 43) to 54.6 (rank 42). Results fromGEM 2018 showed the French to be more driven to start a business (Motivational Index of 18.6) comparedto their regional peers (average of 10.7) and more inclined to pursue business opportunities with the view toimprove their income or financial status.
Ireland also recorded similar results, with notable improvement in ‘Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate
– F/M’ (up from 53.0, rank 43 to 63.0, rank 35), and ‘Women Borrowing or Saving for Business – F/M’ (upfrom 48.5, rank 42 to 61.4, rank 29). GEM’s data also showed cultural and social norms in Ireland to behighly supportive of entrepreneurship and the highest in Europe in terms of popular regard for successful
entrepreneurs. Social media here also strongly embrace and celebrate business success stories. However,
the entrepreneurial environment and conditions currently still pose constraints on many fronts. For instance,
a fairly high fear of failure rate (around 40%), a lack of self-confidence and low perception of opportunities
appear to deter people from regarding entrepreneurship as a good career choice. Even among those who
do perceive a good business opportunity in the area they live in, only half believe they have the skill set or
knowhow to start a business.x

2.2
Results of the Mastercard Index
of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE)

MIWE 2019

Table 7: Change in Score & Ranking for Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (2018-2019)
MIWE Score
MIWE Ranking
2018
Change in Score
2019
2018
Change in Ranking
68.9
1
2
United States
2.0%
1
71.5
2
1
New Zealand
-1.9%
-1
67.8
3
4
Canada
1.8%
1
67.8
4
5
Israel
0.9%
1
65.4
5
12
Ireland
3.7%
7
64.3
6
15
Taiwan (China)
3.0%
9
66.2
7
8
Switzerland
-0.6%
1
68.0
8
3
Singapore
-3.5%
-5
65.1
9
13
United Kingdom
0.7%
4
66.1
10
9
Poland
-1.5%
-1
65.6
11
11
Philippines
-0.8%
0
60.4
12
34
France
7.3%
22
66.4
13
7
Australia
-2.5%
-6
63.6
14
19
Thailand
1.5%
5
63.8
15
18
Hong Kong SAR
1.4%
3
65.1
16
14
Spain
-0.9%
-2
63.5
17
20
Denmark
1.3%
3
64.0
18
17
Portugal
0.3%
-1
64.3
19
16
Vietnam
-1.4%
-3
65.6
20
10
Colombia
-3.6%
-10
62.6
21
24
Malaysia
0.2%
3
61.3
22
27
Ghana
1.5%
5
60.1
23
36
Indonesia
3.4%
13
62.6
24
25
Chile
-0.8%
1
66.5
25
6
Sweden
-6.8%
-19
59.8
26
37
Costa Rica
3.5%
11
62.6
27
23
Belgium
-1.1%
-4
63.4
28
21
Botswana
-2.8%
-7
62.9
29
22
Germany
-3.2%
-7
60.8
30
29
Mainland China
-0.2%
-1
60.8
31
28
Uruguay
-0.7%
-3
60.7
32
30
Brazil
-1.9%
-2
58.6
33
39
Russia
1.5%
6
60.5
34
32
Argentina
-1.6%
-2
61.9
35
26
South Africa
-4.5%
-9
57.8
36
40
South Korea
2.0%
4
59.7
37
38
Hungary
-1.3%
1
60.4
38
33
Peru
-3.4%
-5
60.3
39
35
Romania
-3.3%
-4
57.7
40
41
Ecuador
-0.1%
1
60.6
41
31
Mexico
-5.2%
-10
55.2
42
43
Uganda
1.9%
1
55.6
43
42
Czech Republic
0.8%
-1
54.6
44
44
Nigeria
0.7%
0
52.4
45
46
Italy
1.4%
1
53.0
46
45
Japan
0.0%
-1
50.5
47
48
United Arab Emirates
2.7%
1
49.4
48
50
Malawi
2.3%
2
49.7
49
49
**Angola
1.3%
0
50.6
50
47
Ethiopia
-0.9%
-3
48.6
51
51
Turkey
1.3%
0
46.8
52
52
India
-0.6%
0
42.8
53
54
Tunisia
0.5%
1
44.0
54
53
Islamic Republic of Iran
-4.0%
-1
41.7
55
55
Saudi Arabia
0.6%
0
38.2
56
56
Algeria
2.0%
0
35.2
57
57
Bangladesh
2.0%
0
34.9
58
58
35.7
Egypt
2.4%
0
Note: *Scores for 2018 are different from that shown in the previous year’s report due to data updates. **Angola is the newest market added to the MIWE 2019
Table 7: Change in Score & Ranking for Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (2018-2019)Market

2019
70.3
70.2
69.0
68.4
67.7
66.2
65.8
65.6
65.6
65.1
65.1
64.8
64.7
64.6
64.6
64.5
64.3
64.2
63.4
63.3
62.7
62.3
62.1
62.1
62.0
61.9
61.9
61.6
60.9
60.7
60.4
59.6
59.5
59.5
59.2
59.0
58.9
58.3
58.3
57.6
57.4
56.3
56.0
55.0
53.2
53.0
51.9
50.5
50.4
50.2
49.2
46.5
43.0
42.3
42.0
39.0
35.9

Note:
*Scoresare different
fromthat shown
the previous year’s report due to data updates.
• The
Top for10 –2018
Changesin Score& Shufflingin inRankings**Angola is the newest market added to the MIWE 201921 | P a g e

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2 0 1 933

2.2
Results of the Mastercard Index
of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE)

MIWE 201934

The Top 10 – Changes in Score & Shuffling in Rankings
Table 7 above showed that the overall MIWE score and ranking for the top 4 markets United States, New
Zealand, Canada and Israel did not fluctuate much. Ireland’s score rose 3.7% from 65.4 to 67.7, pushing
it forward by 7 placings from 12th to 5th spot on the back of a sharp rise in ‘Women Borrowing/Savingfor Business – F/M’ (up 26.6% from 48.5 to 61.4) and ‘Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate – F/M’ (up18.9% from 53.0 to 63.0). Ireland’s improvement in the MIWE score and ranking is also driven by good
performance in Component C2: Cultural Perceptions of Entrepreneurs, especially in the new sub-indicatorsthat measured cultural regard for success in entrepreneurship: ‘Values Success through Personal Effort’(68.5, rank 17) and ‘Values Culture of Risk Taking’ (56.5 rank 18). Ireland also scored well in Component B3:
Support for SMEs, especially in terms of Financial Access to Financial Services (100.0, gender parity, rank 1),
New Business Single Government Agency (61.4, rank 4), Government Program Support for Business (59.3,
rank 7) and ‘Physical Infrastructure’ (78.7, rank 12).
In contrast, Singapore’s overall index score fell -3.5% from 68.0 to 65.6, pulling it back 5 spots from 3rd in
the previous year to 8th place due to a steep decline in ‘Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate – F/M’ (down-22.0% from 61.9 to 48.3) and ‘Women Borrowing/Saving for Business – F/M’ (down -10.8% from 65.7 to58.6). Compared to its peers, Singapore did not fare as well in terms of the degree to which the national
culture encourages creativity and innovativeness (56.7, rank 31) and entrepreneurial risk taking (51.1, rank
27).

Markets that Retreated
Of those markets whose MIWE score fell by more than -3.0%, the biggest pullback was observed in Sweden.
Here, the -6.8% decline in score which led to a drop in MIWE ranking by 19 placings was attributed to apullback across several sub-indicators: (i) drop in ‘Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate – F/M’ by -35.0%
from 64.8 to 42.1, (ii) a –12.2% drop in score for ‘Women Borrowing or Saving for Business – F/M’ from34.5 to 30.3, the lowest among the 58 markets, (iii) a -9.1% decline in score for ‘Support for SMEs’, and(iv) a -10.6% decline for ‘Cultural Perception of Entrepreneurs’. According to GEM’s findings, although theperceived opportunities rate in Sweden is very high with more than 80% of the adult population identifying
good business opportunities (compared to global average of 46%), only 38% believe they have the capability
or expertise to start a business (compared to global average of 49%). The Entrepreneurial Intentions
Rate also remained very sluggish at around 10% compared to a much higher proportion of 24% globally.
Additionally, although ‘Ease of Doing Business (rank 9)’ and ‘Quality of Governance (rank 4)’ are very highin Sweden, the overall entrepreneurial framework conditions are quite discouraging, especially with regards
to poor internal market dynamic and commercial legal infrastructure, lack of governmental policies andtargeted programs that support entrepreneurial endeavors, and poor cultural and social norms.
In the Middle East and North Africa, South Africa posted the largest pullback in MIWE score (down -4.5%
from 61.9 in 2018 to 59.2 in 2019), weighed down by sharp -15.9% decline in ‘Support for SMEs’ (60.3, rank
30 to 50.7 rank 45) and a plunge of -25.1% in score for ‘Cultural Perception of Entrepreneurs’ (50.6 rank 45
to 37.9 rank 57). It should be noted that Botswana also experienced a similar decline in both indicators, but
on a smaller scale.

2.2
Results of the Mastercard Index
of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE)

MIWE 201935

GIG & Sharing Economy - A Stepping Stone to Entrepreneurship
The latest GEM 2018/2019 Global Report incorporated the notion of how individuals are using online
platforms to reach out to customers via global businesses such as TaskRabbit, Foodora, Uber, Airbnb and
Grubhub. These individuals who leverage online platforms are referred to as ‘gig workers’ and usuallyengage in part-time or short-term service jobs or ‘gigs’ such as translations, deliveries or baby-sitting via
Internet-based platforms. They may be employed elsewhere but supplement their income with gigs bymaking their goods and services available to others using Internet or app-based platforms. GEM’s 2018
survey found the highest rate of gig and sharing economy activity in South Korea where more than 1 inevery 5 adults are engaged in such activities. Israel, Chile, Ireland and the US also reported high rates
of involvement in gig and sharing. For most of these gig enthusiasts, they reported intentions to start abusiness in the near future or are, already actively setting up a business.
Results from the Mastercard’s Index of Women Entrepreneurs (2019) revealed that women in South Korea,
Chile, Ireland, Israel and the US also tended to score higher in Component B: Knowledge Assets & Financial
Access and Component C: Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions. They are among the most inclined toborrow/save to start a business and enjoy high access to financial products and services in an environment
where support for SMEs is favorable and ease of doing business is fairly high. Given these enabling
conditions, the rising popularity of gig work and it being precursor of future businesses/ entrepreneurial
activities, it is likely that women’s business ownership rates may rise in the future.

2.3
Component A:
Women’s Advanement Outcomes

MIWE 201936

The Women’s Advancement Outcome Component (A) gauges women’s progress and degree ofmarginalization economically and professionally as business leaders, professionals, entrepreneurs and labor
force participants. It comprises four indicators: (i) Women Business Leaders - F%T, (ii) Women Professionals& Technical Workers - F%T, (iii) Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate - F/M, and (iv) Women Labor Force
Participation - F/M.xii
The results suggest that there is no direct correlation between Women’s Advancement Outcomes andWomen’s Business Ownership Rate. For instance, markets that had a high representation of female
business owners did not always rank highly in Component A. There is also no positive correlation between
women’s ability to thrive as business leaders, professionals or entrepreneurs and their ranking in the
Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs 2019.

Top & Bottom Performers: Component A
Women in Asia Pacific continue to make strong positive strides in terms of Women’s Advancement
Outcome with 4 markets assuming the top 10 positions: Philippines (score of 65.7, rank 1), Thailand (rank4), Vietnam (60.5, rank 7) and New Zealand (59.7, rank 10). On a global scale, women in the Philippines aremaking astounding progress as business leaders, with more than half of business leaders and professional/
technical workers being female (52.0% and 58.2%, respectively). Similar to their regional peers in Asia
Pacific (Vietnam and Indonesia), Filipino women are equally as likely as their male counterparts to pursue
entrepreneurship. This tendency is reflected in the fairly high proportion of Women Business Ownership(WBO, female as % of total) in these markets: New Zealand (WBO of 31.8%), Philippines (WBO of 25.8%),
Vietnam (27.0%), and Indonesia (20.3%). The generally high rate of women business ownership andentrepreneurship in Indonesia and Thailand may be explained by the fact that entrepreneurship is positively
regarded and perceived as a good career choice, with the majority of the population believing it is easy tostart a business. xiii

2.3
Component A
Women’s Advancement Outcomes

MIWE 201937

Laggards
Of the 58 markets, Japan, India, UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh are the laggards in Component
A, especially with regards to women’s role as business leaders, professionals/technical workers,
entrepreneurs, and labor force participants. In Japan, the low inclination towards entrepreneurshipmay be explained by the fact that few perceive it to be a good career choice (around 27% compared to
65% in Indonesia and Thailand). This is not surprising, given the tight labor market conditions in Japan(unemployment rate at multi-year lows of around 2.4 % through 2018). Research also show a very low
perception of business opportunities in Japan, with only 8% of adults identifying good opportunities in thearea they live in compared to a global and regional averages of 46% and 45%, respectively). Few feel they
are capable of starting and running a business (10.0% compared to global and regional averages of 49%).
Nearly half of the adult population are risk-averse when it comes to starting a business (46% as opposed to36% globally and 38% regionally). Compared to their male counterparts, Japanese women tend to be lessinclined to be driven by opportunities (62.8% compared to 73.3% for men).
Ranked 54th in Component A, Indian women trail most of their global peers as business leaders,
professionals/technical workers, entrepreneurs, and workforce participants. However, it is encouraging tonote that although entrepreneurial activity rate is low among both men and women, innovation among
entrepreneurs is the most prevalent in India where entrepreneurs are introducing products or services thatare new to customers and not generally offered by competitors (GEM 2018, page 11).

The bar chart below shows the latest overall score and ranking of the 58 markets in relation to
Component A.

2.3
Component A
Women’s Advancement Outcomes

MIWE 201938

The color map and graph above indicate that apart from the Middle East and African markets and South Korea and Japan in
Thewomen’scolor mapand graph above
indicate thatapart fromtheprofessionals/technicians
Middle East and AfricanandmarketsAsia,
advancement
as entrepreneurs,
businessleaders,labor andforceSouthparticipants is
Korea andJapan
Asia,regions.
women’s
as entrepreneurs,
businessrelatively
healthyininmost
Theadvancement
results also highlightthere is much
moreleaders,room forprofessionals/
improvement. Table 4 below
technicianslaborparticipants
is relatively healthy in most regions. The results also highlight there
summarizes
theandresults
forforce
ComponentA.
is much more room for improvement. Table 4 below summarizes the results for Component A.

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Component A:
Women’s Advancement
Outcomes

MIWE 2019

Component A:
Women’s
Advancement
Outcome (SCORE)
60-70

Color
in MapRegions & Selected Markets

Yellow§ 9 markets with very high
Women’s Advancement
Outcome with score in 6070 range§ North & Latin America: US& Canada, Colombia, Brazil§ Asia Pacific: Philippines,
Thailand, Vietnam§ Europe: Poland§ MEA: Nigeria

50-60

White

40-50

Pink

§ 30 markets with scores of
50 to 60 points across all
regions§ MEA: Fairly strong
representation in 9
markets: Botswana,
Ghana, Israel, Angola,
South Africa, Uganda &Ethiopia (Botswana top in
range at 59.7)§ Asia Pacific: 5 markets
with New Zealand highest
in this range at 59.7
(Taiwan (China), Australia,
Indonesia & mainland
China)§ Europe: 11 markets with
Spain top at 57.1 points- 10 markets with
Component A scores of 40
to 50- Mostly in Asia Pacific(Hong Kong SAR,
Singapore, Malaysia &South Korea); others in
Europe (Romania, Italy,
Denmark & Czech
Republic)

30-40

Orange- Only 2 markets in thisrange: Japan & Turkey

20-30

Red

- 8 markets mostly from
MEA
- India & Bangladesh lowest
in Asia

Component A: North & Latin America

Comments§ Women outperform most peers in their ability to advance as entrepreneurs andbusiness leaders§ Representation of women professionals & technicians (F%T) higher than men in
all 9 markets (more than 50%)
§ Women at par with men in early-stage entrepreneurial activity (started one for
maximum of 3 ½ years) in Philippines, Vietnam, Nigeria & Brazil§ Fairly high Women Business Ownership (F%T) ranging from 23% in Thailand to
35% in the US§ High Score likely buoyed by these conditions:§ Women have equal access to tertiary education (except Nigeria)§ Healthy Entrepreneurial Supporting Factors:§ Relative high ease of doing business (except Nigeria)§ Fairly positive cultural perception of entrepreneurship especially in
Canada, the US, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam & Nigeria§ Quality of Governance: Ranges from very strong in Canada and the US, to fair in
Poland, poor in Thailand, Brazil, Colombia, Philippines & Vietnam, and very poorin Nigeria§ Markets here represent more than half of the 58 markets ranging from high to
low income and spanning all regions.
§ Women’s share of business world strong in most markets (except Ethiopia at
15%)§ Women Business Leadership averaging between 25% to 40% of total.
§ Women Professionals/Technicians usually more than half of total (except somemarkets in MEA Ethiopia, Uganda, Angola)§ Women’s participation in the labor force generally high across all regions. Angola& Uganda surprise with very high participation rate
§ Entrepreneurial conditions that support women’s progress include:§ Good Support for SMEs in most Asia Pacific & European markets§ Equal opportunity for higher-level education except for MEA (Ethiopia,
Uganda & Angola)§ Ease of Doing Business fairly high in Asia Pacific & Europe but lower in MEA§ Quality of Governance excellent in some Asia & European markets (New
Zealand, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland) but very poor in MEA markets
such as Angola, Ethiopia, Uganda & Ecuador.
§ Women’s Business Ownership Rate (F%T) ranging from16% in Malaysia andSouth Korea to 31% in Malawi.
§ Women less opportunity to assume higher socio-economic roles as businessleaders (very low in South Korea at 12% & Malawi at 15%); but higher in Hong
Kong SAR, Singapore, Romania & Mexico)§ Women as Professionals & Technicians average at around 35% to 55%§ Gender gap in Entrepreneurial Activity Rate wider than in other markets,
although Malaysia & Malawi’s gender disparity are considerably narrower§ Support for SMEs stronger in Singapore & Denmark, but weak in Malawi,
Romania, Italy & Czech Republic§ Women have equal opportunities to tertiary education except Malawi & South
Korea§ Ease of Doing Business good in most markets§ Cultural Perception of Entrepreneurship good in Hong Kong SAR, Singapore &Malaysia, but considerably less favorable in Czech Republic, Italy & Romania &Malawi§ Quality of Governance strong in most markets, but poor in Malawi & Mexico§ Women here tend to have less opportunities to become business leaders andowners especially in MEA (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Algeria, Iran & Egypt)§ Gender gap in entrepreneurial activity rate is widest in Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia &Bangladesh. UAE stands out with fairly narrow gender disparity; likely buoyedby conditions such as strong support for SMEs, high ease of doing business &very positive social/cultural regard for entrepreneurship.
§ Women Business Ownership Rates here are among the lowest, with acutely low
rates in Saudi Arabia, Egypt & Bangladesh (<5%)§ Major Constraints to women’s ability to advance:§ Women have less access to financial services, therefore less able to obtainfunding for business startups (except Japan & Iran).
§ Support for SMEs only average, except for UAE§ Women here have fairly high opportunity for tertiary education with gender
parity noted in Tunisia, India, Egypt, Algeria, and UAE. However, despite having
knowledge assets, women do not always join the workforce. Very low
participation rates are observed in Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Iran, Egypt, Tunisia andIndia (except in Japan).

Table 8: Summary of Component A: Women’s Advancement Outcome
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Component A:
Women’s Advancement
Outcomes

MIWE 201940

Component A: North & Latin America
Women that showed strong advancement in Component A in North & Latin America included Colombia(62.8, rank 2), Canada (62.0, rank 3), Brazil (61.1, rank 5), and the US (60.1, rank 9). In the US, womenare ranked 6th globally as business leaders, while Canadian women are ranked 4th in terms of theirrepresentation as professionals/technical workers and 8th in terms of Women Labor Force Participation(F/M). In the US, women’s ability to rise into business leadership positions appears to be consistent with
their high share of the female business ownership (rank 4, 35.1% of total owners). In Latin America,
women in Colombia and Brazil outshine their global peers in Component A, especially in terms of businessleadership (rank 1 for Colombia with 56.4%) and women entrepreneurial activity rate (rank 12 for Brazil at
93.51%, suggesting women are nearly as likely as men to be entrepreneurs). This is probably due to the low
fear of failure rate in the region. Findings from the GEM 2018 Global Report showed that in every economy
in Latin America, fewer than one-third of those seeing opportunities assert that fear of failure would deter
them from venturing into a business.

Component A: Middle East & Africa (MEA)
Nigeria outperformed most of its global peers with a score of 60.6 and ranking of 6 for Component A.
Botswana and Ghana also surprised with comparatively strong scores of 59.7 (rank 12) and 58.8 (rank13), respectively. This is driven by notably high proportions of women as business leaders, professionals/
technicians, and women’s engagement in entrepreneurial activities. For example, Nigeria had the second
highest proportion of women in professional/technician roles among the 58 markets, and exceptionallyhigh percentage of female as entrepreneurs. Specifically, nearly 4 in every 10 working age women are
engaged in early-stage entrepreneurial activity (40.7% compared to 39.0% for men, gender parity). Thismay be fueled by several factors, including:-Highly opportunity-driven: Women are just as likely as their male counterparts to be engaged inopportunity-driven entrepreneurship (73.8% for both male and female) and labor force (50.5% vs59.8%). Data from GEM showed that in general, Nigerians demonstrate very high perception of goodbusiness opportunities (85% vs 43% for global average and 67% for regional average).

-

Very strong perception of capabilities: More encouragingly, they have a very strong perception ofcapabilities to start or run a business (87% vs 51% for global average and 71% for regional average).

-

Positive regard for Entrepreneurship: A high proportion of the general population (81%) perceive
entrepreneurship to be a good career choice (global average of 64% and regional average of 78%).

-

Low Fear of Failure Rate: Nigerians are generally less deterred by failing in business startups thantheir global and regional peers (16% compared to global and regional averages of 35% and 27%,
respectively).

Ghana and Botswana also surprised with very high Women Business Ownership Rates (F%T) of 37.9%(rank 2) and 36.0% (rank 3), respectively. Women’s entrepreneurial activity rate in these markets are high,with nearly 3 out of every 10 working age women engaged in early-stage entrepreneurial activity or having
started one for a maximum of 3.5 years. The entrepreneurial landscape in Ghana and Botswana is quite
similar to that in Nigeria, exhibiting low fear of failure, high perception of opportunities and capabilities, andpositive social and cultural regard for successful entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship as a career of choice.
However, it should be noted that while engagement in early-stage entrepreneurial activity is high in thesemarkets, the motivation to be innovative and grow the business on a larger scale tend to be lower than the
global and regional averages.xiv

2.3
Component A:
Women’s Advancement
Outcomes

MIWE 201941

Component A: Europe
In Europe, women in Poland, Spain, France, and Ireland are making big strides in Component A, with France
recording the most improvement (up 15.0% from 48.8 to 56.1) due to an increase in the proportion of
female entrepreneurs (around 5 out of every working age female are entrepreneurs compared to only 2 theprevious year). This engagement rate is better than regional peers such as Germany, Denmark and Italy. In
Ireland, women’s entrepreneurial activity rate also edged up from 6.2 in 2017 to 7.5 in 2018.
Meanwhile, women in Poland outperform most of their global peers in the business world as leaders andprofessionals/technical workers: ‘Women Business Leaders (F%T)’ at 41.2% and ‘Women Professionals& Technical Workers (F%T)’ at 57.1%, suggesting that nearly half of all business leaders or professionals/
technical employees are females. This is likely aligned to the fact that most adults here perceive good
opportunities to start a business in the area where they live: 68% in 2018, surpassing the global and regional
averages of around 45%. Although the majority of society confers high status to successful entrepreneurs(76%) and entrepreneurship is perceived as a good career choice (86%), the overall entrepreneurial activity
rate remains very low in Poland among both males and females (6.0% and 4.5%, respectively). However,what is encouraging is that of those who do start or manage a business, their ability to keep the businessrunning for more than 3.5 years is far superior than their global and regional peers. This is evident in themuch higher ‘Established Business Ownership Rate’ of 13% for Poland compared to 8% globally and 7%
regionally. Moreover, the Polish are also more motivated by improvement-driven business opportunities, as
opposed to being necessity-motivated.
In Switzerland, women’s tendency towards entrepreneurship remains sluggish (only 5 out of every 100
entrepreneurs are women) in spite of highly conducive and enabling underlying conditions such as highquality of governance, strong support for SMEs, positive cultural perception of entrepreneurs, and relatively
high ease of doing business. Data from GEM 2018 revealed very low ‘Entrepreneurial Intentions Rate’ of
only 7% compared to the regional average of 11%, suggesting that less than 7% of the adult population arelatent entrepreneurs who intend to start a business within 3 years. This compares poorly to markets in Asia
such as Malaysia, Vietnam and South Korea where the intentions rates are much higher at 18%, 25% and31%, as well as other economies such as Canada (14%), Colombia (49%), Mexico (13%), and Saudi Arabia(26.8%). Moreover, the Perceived Opportunities Rate among the Swiss population (45%) and Perceived
Capabilities Rate (36%) are quite healthy, and women are becoming nearly as likely as men to engage inopportunity-driven entrepreneurial activities (‘Female/Male Opportunity-Driven TEA Ratio’ of 0.99 for2018 compared 0.82 in 2017. The overall sluggish inclination towards businesses/entrepreneurship could be
explained by the fact that the Swiss labor market is one of the most attractive and lucrative in the world
owing to the very high quality of life, substantial salaries, and moderate income tax rate, making it morefavorable for the individual to seek a secured place in the workplace as opposed to taking business risks.

2.3
Component A:
Women’s Advancement
Outcomes

MIWE 201942

Correlation between Women’s Entrepreneurial Activity &Wealth of Nation
It is interesting to note that women in most of the lower-income, factor-driven MEA markets such as
Nigeria, Botswana, Ghana, and Israel outperform their global peers in Component A due to their highwomen participation rate in entrepreneurial activity and the labor force. In fact, of the 7 markets where
women are at par with men in terms of entrepreneurial activity rate, three are from the MEA region. Within
the same region, Angola, Malawi, and UAE have near gender parity ratios of 99.3%, 94.5% and 99.0%,
respectively (gender parity = 100.0%). However, women’s business ownership rates (F%T) vary widely acrossthe region, with Malawi, Uganda, Angola, Ghana and Nigeria posting high rates (average of 3 out of every
10 business owners are females), and Egypt, Algeria and Iran posting significantly lower rates of between
4% to 7% (only 4 to 7 women out of every 100 business owners).
The results also showed that women from wealthy and developed nations do not necessarily outperformtheir peers in less-wealthy and less-advanced economies when it comes to their ability to rise tohigher socio-economic positions as leaders, business owners and professionals. For instance, women’s
advancement outcome in Japan, South Korea, Italy, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, Denmark and Germany iscomparable to the low-income and least developed nations such as Bangladesh, India and Malawi.
The table below shows how various markets’ score and ranking for Component A have changed since thelast MIWE 2018 iteration.

2.3
Component A:
Women’s Advancement
Outcomes

MIWE 2019

Component A:
Component A:
Women’s Advancement Outcomes SCORE
Women’s Advancement Outcomes RANKING
Change inChange in
2019
2018
2019
2018
SCORE
RANKING
Philippines
65.7
65.7
1
2
1
0.1%
Colombia
62.8
67.3
2
1
-1
-6.7%
Canada
62.0
58.6
3
11
8
5.8%
Thailand
61.2
59.5
4
10
6
2.8%
Brazil
61.1
62.1
5
3
-2
-1.6%
Nigeria
60.6
60.6
6
6
0
0.1%
Vietnam
60.5
60.1
7
8
1
0.6%
Poland
60.2
60.6
8
5
-3
-0.6%
United States
60.1
57.3
9
16
7
4.9%
New Zealand
59.7
61.1
10
4
-6
-2.2%
Botswana
59.7
60.1
11
9
-2
-0.6%
Ghana
58.8
58.6
12
12
0
0.4%
Ecuador
58.6
56.8
13
17
4
3.1%
Israel
58.2
57.7
14
15
1
0.8%
Spain
57.1
56.1
15
18
3
1.7%
Russia
57.1
60.3
16
7
-9
-5.4%
Taiwan (China)
56.7
50.8
17
35
18
11.7%
Australia
56.2
58.4
18
14
-4
-3.7%
Peru
56.1
56.1
19
19
0
0.1%
France
56.1
48.8
20
42
22
15.0%
Portugal
55.3
53.9
21
27
6
2.7%
Ireland
55.0
52.6
22
29
7
4.5%
Angola
54.9
54.5
23
21
-2
0.7%
Belgium
54.8
54.4
24
23
-1
0.6%
South Africa
54.7
54.9
25
20
-5
-0.4%
Costa Rica
54.4
50.1
26
38
12
8.5%
Uruguay
54.2
53.8
27
28
1
0.7%
Indonesia
54.0
49.1
28
40
12
10.0%
Hungary
53.8
54.3
29
24
-5
-1.0%
Uganda
53.7
52.5
30
30
0
2.4%
Argentina
53.7
54.0
31
26
-5
-0.6%
Mainland China
53.3
54.0
32
25
-7
-1.4%
Sweden
52.7
58.6
33
13
-20
-10.0%
United Kingdom
52.0
51.2
34
34
0
1.5%
Switzerland
50.5
51.8
35
33
-2
-2.4%
Ethiopia
50.5
50.2
36
37
1
0.6%
Chile
50.3
49.8
37
39
2
1.0%
Germany
50.1
52.2
38
31
-7
-4.0%
Denmark
50.0
48.8
39
41
2
2.3%
Romania
49.7
50.5
40
36
-4
-1.7%
Hong Kong SAR
49.2
47.6
41
44
3
3.3%
Singapore
49.0
52.0
42
32
-10
-5.8%
Mexico
48.9
54.5
43
22
-21
-10.2%
Malaysia
47.6
47.8
44
43
-1
-0.3%
Italy
45.4
42.3
45
47
2
7.5%
Malawi
45.4
44.2
46
45
-1
2.6%
Czech Republic
43.6
43.2
47
46
-1
0.8%
South Korea
41.8
40.8
48
48
0
2.5%
Japan
39.4
36.2
49
49
0
8.9%
Turkey
33.3
32.9
50
50
0
1.2%
Tunisia
30.0
29.2
51
54
3
2.9%
United Arab Emirates
29.7
29.2
52
53
1
1.7%
Islamic Republic of Iran
29.6
31.7
53
51
-2
-6.7%
India
28.7
30.5
54
52
-2
-5.8%
Algeria
25.7
24.8
55
56
1
3.7%
Egypt
23.4
23.4
56
57
1
-0.1%
Saudi Arabia
23.3
25.8
57
55
-2
-9.5%
Bangladesh
23.1
22.7
58
58
0
1.4%
Note: *Scores for 2019 are different from that shown in the previous year’s report due to data updates. **Angola is latest market added to MIWE 2019
Table 9: Change in Score & Ranking for Component A: Women’s Advancement Outcome (2018 to 2019)Market

Note:*Scoresfor 2019
are different
from that
Changesin Score& Ranking:Component
A shown in the previous year’s report due to data updates.
**Angola is latest market added to MIWE 201928 | P a g e

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2 0 1 943

2.3
Component A:
Women’s Advancement
Outcomes

MIWE 201944

Changes in Score & Ranking: Component A
The table above points to variation in score and ranking in Women’s Advancement Outcomes in all markets.
Notable increases in score was observed in Japan (up 8.9% from 36.2 to 39.4), Indonesia (up 10.0% from49.1 to 54.0), France (up 15.0% from 48.8 to 56.1), Taiwan (China) (up 11.7% from 50.8 to 56.7), Costa Rica
(up 8.5% from 50.1 to 54.4), Canada (up 5.8% from 58.6 to 62.0) and United States (up 4.9% from 57.3 to60.1). The increases were primarily driven by an improvement in the sub-indicator ‘Women Entrepreneurial
Activity Rate – F/M’.
Using Indonesia as an example, in the previous publication, the 2017 data showed that out of every
100 working age women, only 6 were about to start an entrepreneurial activity, or has started one fora maximum of 3 ½ years. However, the latest data for 2018 pointed to an increase in the proportion of
women from 6 to 14, more than double, placing women at par with men in early-stage entrepreneurship.
In France, an increase of 73.6% in ‘Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate – F/M’ from 43.6 in 2017 to 75.7
significantly narrowed the gender gap. Here, the proportion of women in entrepreneurial activity was
dismally low at only 2.4% in 2017, before doubling to 5.3% in 2018. This may be attributed to various socioeconomic and entrepreneurial conditions such as:-

Economic expansion in 2017 which may have buoyed confidence in starting a business-

Expansionary monetary policy environment (zero interest rate) that kept borrowing costs for business low.

-

Fairly high unemployment rate conditions that may make business attractive: The jobless rate averaged
between 9% to 10% over 2017 before easing to around 9% in 2018.

-

An increase in the proportion of women who are driven into entrepreneurship due to opportunities (asopposed to out of necessity) and the desire to improve their income and financial independence. The
data showed ‘Opportunity-Driven Entrepreneurship’ among women rising from 59.5% in 2017 to 66.9%.

6 were about to start an entrepreneurial activity, or has started one for a maximum of 3 ½ years. However, the latest data for2018 pointed to an increase in the proportion of women from 6 to 14, more than double, placing women at par with men in earlystage entrepreneurship. In France, an increase of 73.6% in ‘Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate – F/M’ from 43.6 in 2017 to 75.7
significantly narrowed the gender gap. Here, the proportion of women in entrepreneurial activity was dismally low at only 2.4%
in 2017, before doubling to 5.3% in 2018. This may be attributed to various socio-economic and entrepreneurial conditions such
MIWE 2019 45
as:2.4
Component
B:• Economic expansion in 2017 which may have buoyed confidence in starting a businessKnowledge
Assets& Financial
Access• Expansionary monetary
policy environment(zero interest rate)that kept borrowing costs for business low.
••

Fairly high unemployment rate conditions that may make business attractive: The jobless rate averaged between 9% to
10% over 2017 before easing to around 9% in 2018.
An increase in the proportion of women who are driven into entrepreneurship due to opportunities (as opposed to outof necessity) and the desire to improve their income and financial independence. The data showed ‘Opportunity-Driven
Entrepreneurship’ among women rising from 59.5% in 2017 to 66.9%.

TheCOMPONENT
Knowledge B:
Assets& Financial
AccessComponent
2.4.
KNOWLEDGEASSETS& FINANCIALACCESS(B) gauges women’s progress and the degreeof marginalization they face in the business world as financial customers and academics in terms of
The Knowledge Assets & Financial Access Component (B) gauges women’s progress and the degree of marginalization they faceopportunities to enroll in tertiary institutions. It also reflects women’s inclination to borrow or save forin the business world as financial customers and academics in terms of opportunities to enroll in tertiary institutions. It also reflects
businesses and how much support is rendered for SMEs. As noted above, some of the sub-indicators under
women’s inclination to borrow or save for businesses and how much support is rendered for SMEs. As noted above, some of the‘Support
for under
SMEs’
in Component
have beenB replaced
due to theby thesources,
sub-indicators‘Support
for SMEs’ inBComponent
have been replaced
duediscontinuation
to the discontinuationby thesources,oror because
becauseareregularly
no longer
regularly updated.
they are nothey
longerupdated.
Table 10: Sub-Indicators that have been replaced in Component B
Previous Sub-Indicator that has been Replaced due
to Discontinuity by Sources
Availability of Finance Programs for Women

New Sub-Indicator
Physical Infrastructure

SME Training & Development Programs

Government Program Support

Ease of Access to Loans

Single Government Agency for New Businesses

Affordability of Financial Services

Effective Government Programs

Sub-indicators for ‘Support
for SMEs’ – Component B

Table 10: Sub-Indicators that have been replaced in Component B

Top & Bottom Performers
The results for Component B are the most promising among the 3 components measured. In most markets, the gender gaps
between men and women are narrow. As shown in the color world map below, 4 markets had very high scores of between 80 to
100 points (shaded in light blue), of which 3 are from Asia Pacific (Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea). The results show a large
cohort of 34 markets within the 70 to 80-point range (colored green) that are concentrated in Europe, North America, and someparts of Asia Pacific, and to a lesser extent, Latin America and MEA. In these top 2 ranges, the gender gaps in women’s access tofinancial services and opportunity to enroll in a tertiary education tend to be narrow. The underlying supportive conditions forTop& Bottom Performers
SMEs are also fairly strong, such as physical infrastructure and the availability and effectiveness of government supportive
programs. The remaining 20 markets had reasonably acceptable scores of between 50 to 70 points (white and yellow), and tend
The
Component
B are
the 3 components
Inwheremostthe support
to beresults
located forin Latin
America, the
MEA,theandmostsome promisingparts of Asiaamongsuch as Australia
and Japan. In measured.
these markets
markets,
gendergaps between men
women
are narrow.
shownstartups
in the color
for SMEs is theweaker,the tendency/motivation
forandwomen
to borrowor save forAs
businessis low.world map below,

4 markets had very high scores of between 80 to 100 points (shaded in light blue), of which 3 are from

Asia Pacific (Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea). The results show a large cohort of 34 markets within
the 70 to 80-point range (colored green) that are concentrated in Europe, North America, and some parts
29 | Asia
P a g ePacific, and to a lesser extent,
M a sLatint e r c Americaa r d I n d eandx o MEA.
f W o mn E n ttop
r e p2r eranges,
n e u r s the2 0 1gender
9of
Inethese
gaps inwomen’s access to financial services and opportunity to enroll in a tertiary education tend to be narrow.
The underlying supportive conditions for SMEs are also fairly strong, such as physical infrastructure andthe availability and effectiveness of government supportive programs. The remaining 20 markets had
reasonably acceptable scores of between 50 to 70 points (white and yellow), and tend to be located in Latin
America, the MEA, and some parts of Asia such as Australia and Japan. In these markets where the support
for SMEs is weaker, the tendency/motivation for women to borrow or save for business startups is low.

2.4
Component B:
Knowledge Assets &Financial Access

MIWE 201946

However, the results showed that the degree of knowledge assets and financial access has no direct bearing on women’s
inclination towards or ability to thrive in business/entrepreneurship. For example, Malaysia and Singapore topped the ranks in
However, the results showed that the degree of knowledge assets and financial access has no direct bearing on women’s
Component B, offering excellent physical infrastructure and effective government programs to support businesses. Women’s
inclination towards or ability to thrive in business/entrepreneurship. For example, Malaysia and Singapore topped the ranks inenrolment rate in tertiary education in these markets is nearly at par with men, demonstrating little gender disparity. They are
Component B, offering excellent physical infrastructure and effective government programs to support businesses. Women’s

2.4
Component B:
Knowledge Assets &Financial Access

MIWE 201947

However, the results showed that the degree of knowledge assets and financial access has no direct
bearing on women’s inclination towards or ability to thrive in business/entrepreneurship. For example,
Malaysia and Singapore topped the ranks in Component B, offering excellent physical infrastructure andeffective government programs to support businesses. Women’s enrollment rate in tertiary education inthese markets is nearly at par with men, demonstrating little gender disparity. They are also as likely as men
to own credit and debit cards, except in Malaysia where women’s ownership of credit cards is low comparedto their male counterparts and regional peers. Yet, despite having higher-level education and financial
privileges, women’s business ownership rates remain low (Malaysia: 16.2% female out of total owners,
Singapore: 26.3%, South Korea: 16.8%, and Ireland: 22.9%).
In other regions such as MEA, the low rates of female business owners are even more apparent. For
instance, women’s tertiary education enrollment rate in the United Arab Emirates far exceeds that ofmen (77% vs 47% for men), and the support rendered to SMEs is strong (75.9, rank 3) especially in termsof gender equality for financial services, physical infrastructure, and the effectiveness and availability of
government programs aimed towards helping business startups. Yet, despite being a strong and fastgrowing economy with modernization occurring at fast speeds and efforts taken to cultivate a supportive
entrepreneurial ecosystem, women’s business ownership rate in the UAE remains dismally low at 7.7% of
total (rank 52). Current literature and data suggested that this is largely attributed to other overriding
constraints such as low women financial inclusion, lack of access to funding, lack of confidence in being
able to balance work and home responsibilities, and most importantly, persistent gender stereotypes andreligious norms and values that are restrictive for women seeking to undertake business ventures.xv

2.4
Component B:
Knowledge Assets &Financial Access

MIWE 201948

Table 11: Summary of Component B: Knowledge Assets & Financial Access
Component B:
Knowledge Assets& Financial Access(SCORE)
80-100Color
in MapRegions & Selected Markets

CommentsBlue§ 4 markets with highKnowledge Assets &Financial Assets scoreabove 80 points§ Asia Pacific: Malaysia,
Singapore, South Korea§ Europe: Ireland§ Women have nearly equal access to financial services & products as men§ Low to zero gender gap in tertiary education enrolment rate
§ Women just as likely as men to own a credit card (except Malaysia with a gap of36%)§ Women in South Korea are the most inclined among the 58 markets to save for abusiness purpose, while Ireland and Malaysia are slightly lower§ Women’s representation as business leaders and business owners lower than
expected (especially in Korea and Malaysia)§ Wide gender gap in Singapore in terms of entrepreneurial activity rate (Female:
7.2% vs 14.8% for Male)

70-80

Green

§ 34 markets mostly
concentrated in Europe,
Asia Pacific, North
America, and to a lesser
extent, Latin America and
MEA§ Europe: 12 markets led by
Switzerland and the UK§ Asia Pacific: 9 markets led
by Vietnam and New
Zealand§ North & Latin America: 8markets led Chile & the US§ MEA: 5 markets led by the
UAE & Israel§ Women here form the bulk of the markets covered in the MIWE 2019 report§ Most of the markets are high or upper middle income§ Zero gender gap in tertiary education enrolment rate (except Turkey, Iran &Ghana)§ Support for SMEs generally quite good in most markets, except Hungary, Israel,
Romania, Turkey, Argentina, Iran, Philippines, Vietnam. Supporting conditions arestrongest in Denmark, UAE & Switzerland§ Gender gap in borrowing/saving for business ranges widely across region. Least
gender divide noted in Israel, Romania, Turkey, Philippines, Vietnam & Ghana.
Gender gap wider in Portugal, Canada, Russia, Uruguay, and Denmark.
§ Little gender gap in Financial Inclusion except for Turkey, Colombia, Ghana, India,
Costa Rica
§ Women’s Business Ownership ranges widely across regions with top share in
New Zealand, Portugal, USA, Russia, and Ghana, and lowest in India, Iran, Turkey,
UAE

60-70

Yellow§ 15 markets, mainly from
MEA, Europe, Latin
America & Asia
§ MEA: 7 markets led by
Saudi Arabia & Uganda§ Europe: 3 markets§ Latin America: 3 markets§ Asia: 2 markets§ Most of the markets are high and upper middle income, with 3 low income(Ethiopia, Malawi and Uganda) and 1 lower-middle income (Nigeria)§ Surprising to find wealthy & highly developed markets such as Australia, Japan,
Germany, Sweden & Belgium in the lower score range where knowledge assets &financial access should probably have been higher§ Gender gap in tertiary education enrolment & financial inclusion wider in MEA
markets§ Support for SMEs tend to be weaker in MEA markets, and in Brazil§ Women are less inclined to borrow or save for business startup than men in thewealthier & more developed nations such as Australia, Japan, Belgium, Germany& Sweden; while women in the less developed and less wealthy nations in MEA
are more likely than men to borrow or save for a business.
§ Women’s Business Ownership vary widely from being acutely low (1.60% of total)
in Saudi Arabia, to low in Ethiopia, Sweden & Japan, but high in Australia, Malawi,
Uganda and Angola

50-60

White

§ 5 markets, mostly lower
middle income§ MEA: 3 markets§ Asia: 1 market(Bangladesh)§ Europe: 1 market (Italy)§ Women Business Ownership (F%T) and overall MIWE index score are very low inthis range, except for Italy (25%)§ Gender gap in Women’s role as business leaders, professionals/technical andlabor force participants low§ Gender disparity in financial inclusion is wide, with very few women showing
inclination to borrow or save for a business compared to other global peers.
§ With the exception of Italy, very few women are financially qualified for credit
and debit cards.
§ Support for SMEs noticeably lower here, especially in terms of physicalinfrastructure, effectiveness & availability of government support programs§ Tertiary education enrolment rate among both men and women is much lower
here compared to other markets§ Possible reasons for gender gap in women’s progress:§ Unstable political environment, especially in Egypt, Tunisia and Bangladesh§ Government system less effective compared to global peers, especially in
Bangladesh, Egypt & Algeria§ Many barriers to doing business (such as corruption & regulation),
especially in Bangladesh & Algeria.

Table 11: Summary of Component B: Knowledge Assets & Financial Access

Component B: Asia Pacific
In Asia Pacific, women continue to take a prominent lead, with Malaysia, Singapore, Korea and Vietnam assuming 1st, 2nd, 3rd,and 5th spots, respectively. Women here tend to be highly driven by high access to financial products and services, strong support

31 | P a g e

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Component B:
Knowledge Assets &Financial Access

MIWE 201949

Component B: Asia Pacific
In Asia Pacific, women continue to take a prominent lead, with Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea andVietnam assuming 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th spots, respectively. Women here tend to be highly driven by highaccess to financial products and services, strong support for SMEs, and high opportunities to tertiary
education. In Vietnam, women are nearly as inclined as their male counterparts to borrow or save to starta business (F/M: 89.9%, rank 3), a tendency that appears to be resonated in their high share of the businessworld (Women Business Ownership of 27.0%, rank 20). This is aligned with the fact that Vietnamese
women tend to be more inclined to start a business/engage in entrepreneurial activity than their malecounterparts (24.8% activity rate among females compared to 21.7% for males). They are also nearly as
motivated as men to pursue good business opportunities to improve their income and independence (asopposed to necessity).
In South Korea, women’s entrepreneurial activity rate increased notably from 10.3% in 2017 to 12.2%
in 2018, driven by a rise in female entrepreneurs seeking greater income or financial independence(improvement-driven opportunities). In fact, GEM’s 2018/19 data revealed opportunity-driven
entrepreneurship in East and South Asian markets such as Thailand, Malaysia, and South Korea to be morethan 3 times the proportion of necessity-motivated.xvi In Malaysia, a marked increase in entrepreneurial
activity rate was observed among both females and males: up 3.5 times from 4.5% in 2016 to 20.1% in2017 for females, and up 4.6 times from 5.0% to 23.0% for males over the 2016-2017 period3. Among
women-led entrepreneurs, 90.2% were aspired by good opportunities (versus necessity-driven or lack ofoption), surpassing 88.6% for males. The increase in female entrepreneurship rate appears to be consistent
with the increase in ‘Women Borrowing or Saving for Business (F/M)’, up from 72.2% in 2016 to 81.1%
in 2017.
In Singapore, although the underlying conditions for SMEs are highly conducive and enabling in terms of
excellent physical, financial and legal infrastructure and supportive government initiatives via programs andagencies, women’s share of the business world is lower than expected (26.3% female out of total). This may
be attributed to the highly competitive business environment, high starting business cost, fear of failure, or
simply, a preference to remain in the labor force due to the sense of job security.

3

Based on the latest data update from GEM 2016-2017 for Malaysia

2.4
Component B:
Knowledge Assets &Financial Access

MIWE 201950

Component B: Europe
The results also showed women in European markets such as Ireland, Switzerland, the UK, France andDenmark positioned strongly in Component B: Knowledge Assets & Financial Access, fueled by very
supportive and enabling underlying conditions for SMEs and high access to financial services and products.
In this region, women’s enrollment rate in tertiary education is not only high but surpass that of men.
This is observed in nearly all European markets where the proportion of ‘Female Tertiary Education Gross
Enrollment Rate’ is greater than men, especially in Denmark (94.7% for female vs 69.2% for male), Spain(100% vs 84.4%), and Poland (81.2% vs 53.4%). A breakdown of the ‘Support for SMEs’ indicator revealed
entrepreneurial conditions to be generally very enabling, especially in terms of physical infrastructure, theavailability of supportive government programs, and the effectiveness of government SME programs.

Ireland
In Ireland (the top market in Europe for Component B with score of 81.2, rank 4), women benefit frompositive and supportive social and cultural norms towards entrepreneurship and good opportunities for
tertiary education (higher female enrollment rate of 82.1% compared to 74.4% for male). Their labor force
participation rate is also among the highest at 81%. They account for half of all professionals/technicians(50.5%) and over one-third of business leaders (35.6%). Yet, despite the progress achieved in these aspects
amid highly supportive underlying conditions, Irish women’s business ownership is lower than expected,
accounting for only one-fifths of all business owners.
Compared to their male counterparts, Irish women are less inclined to engage in entrepreneurial activities(63% F/M). Such disparity and underperformance may be attributed to various reasons such as: (i) fearof business failure which makes entrepreneurship less attractive as a career choice and (ii) lack of selfconfidence to run a business which may be associated with low perception of good business opportunities.
This is unfortunate, given that Irish entrepreneurs have high growth expectations (rank 4th in Europe outof 20), with 21% planning to create 10 or more jobs within 5 years. They also rank highly (4th in Europe)for “tech” entrepreneurship, with 1 in 6 reporting their products and services to be innovative and new
to all customers. Irish entrepreneurs are also considered as “Born-Globals”, with 1 in 4 having very strong
international orientation and potential to take their business onto global grounds.xvii

2.4
Component B:
Knowledge Assets &Financial Access

MIWE 201951

With a score of 68.9, Germany is ranked quite low at 41 for Component B in terms of women’s knowledge
assets and financial access. The results show women to be among the least inclined to borrow or save forbusiness (female-to-male ratio of only 34.8, rank 55). For example, out of every 100 person who borrowed
to start a business, only 1.5% is a female compared to 4.4% for men. The tendency for women to set
aside money for business purposes is also low compared to men (4.4% for female compared to 12.1% formale). When it comes to entrepreneurship, German women are only half as inclined as men to engage inentrepreneurial activities (F/M of 50.0, rank 46). Similarly, women’s share of the business world is lower than
expected (female business owners rate of 25.7% of total, rank 26). For instance, only 3.3% of the working
age population about to start a business or has started one for a maximum of 3 ½ years is a female(compared to 6.6% for men).
This is disappointing given the market confers very favorable entrepreneurial conditions such as high easeof doing business (78.9, rank 15), good quality of governance (89.2, rank 7) and good support for SMEs
(69.1, rank 10). GEM’s research revealed that one of the major constraints stems from the fact that
Germany is characterized by a large number of middle-sized companies that tend to have strong familyties. These businesses perform relatively well both locally and internationally, making it tough for new, small
entrepreneurs to compete effectively. This may be hindering business startup rates.xvii Other hurdles include:-

Low entrepreneurial intentions rate compared to regional peers: Only 5.8% of the population aged 18
to 64 in Germany are latent entrepreneurs and intend to start a business in the next 3 years.

-

Low perceived capabilities rate: Only 38.3% of the working age population believe they have therequired skills and expertise to start a business (lower than regional average of 44.3%).

-

Poor cultural and social perceptions of entrepreneurship (48.0, rank 45).

2.4
Component B:
Knowledge Assets &Financial Access

MIWE 201952

Switzerland
With a Component B score of 79.1 and ranking in 7th place, Switzerland is strongly placed in terms of
Women’s Knowledge Assets & Financial Access, especially in terms of ‘Support for SMEs’ (73.8, rank 4)
and ‘Women Tertiary Education Gross Enrollment Rate – F/M’ (100.0, rank 1). A breakdown of the ‘Support
for SMEs’ indicator showed the physical infrastructure and effectiveness and availability of government
programs to support business to be among the top among the 58 markets. Women here also have equal
opportunity to financial services and products. In fact, the results show Switzerland solidly positioned in
Component C: Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions as well with a ranking in 4th place and a score of
78.0, buoyed by very high ‘Quality of Governance’ (96.8, rank 2), ‘Entrepreneurial Supporting Factors’ (77.1,
rank 2), and ‘Cultural Perceptions of Entrepreneurs’ (65.3, rank 8). For example, the overall national regard
and support for entrepreneurship in terms of success achieved through personal initiative, entrepreneurial
risk-taking, creativity and innovativeness, and individuality are very positive. The country also has one of themost effective rules of governance with regards to quality of public services, political stability and control ofcorruption.
The MIWE 2019 results also positioned Switzerland in 7th place with an overall index score of 65.8, trailingonly the US, New Zealand, Canada, Israel, Ireland and Canada. However, while the country thrives in
Component B and C, it lags considerably in Component A. Specifically, women’s representation as businessowners, leaders and professionals/technicians is lower than expected given the existing entrepreneurial
supporting conditions, access to financial services & products and knowledge assets. The latest 2018
data from GEM showed a decline in women’s entrepreneurial activity rate from 5.8% in 2017 to 4.7%
in 2018, while men’s activity rate dropped from 11.1% to 10.0%. There are various reasons for the low
entrepreneurial rate, including:•High fear of failure: In general, the Swiss are more likely to be deterred by business failure compared totheir regional and global peers (40% vs global and regional averages of 36% and 39%, respectively).

•

Very Low Entrepreneurial Intentions Rate: On average, the Swiss show very low intention to starta business within the next 3 years (7% compared to global and regional averages of 24% and 11%,
respectively).

•

Low Perceived Capabilities Rate: Compared to their global and regional peers, the Swiss have lessconfidence when it comes to believing that they have the required knowledge and skills to start abusiness (36% vs 49% globally and 44% regionally)•

Low Perception of Entrepreneurship as a Good Career Choice

On a positive note, data showed that the Established Business Ownership Rate in Switzerland to be highwith 12% of the population aged 18 to 64 being a current owner-manager of an established business thathas paid salaries, wages, or any other payments to the owners for more than 3 ½ years. This rate is higher
than the global and regional averages of 8% and 7%, respectively. The Job Creation Expectation Rateamong Swiss entrepreneurs is considerably higher than the global and regional readings as well with nearly
one-third involved in entrepreneurial activity voicing plans to expand their business by creating 6 or more jobs
in the next 5 years (29% versus 21% and 20% for global and regional, respectively). Most entrepreneurs tend
to be ambitious and are greatly driven by opportunities that will advance their income and financial position(Motivational Index of 9% compared to global and regional averages of 3% and 4%, respectively).

2.4
Component B:
Knowledge Assets &Financial Access

MIWE 201953

Component B: Middle East & Africa
While women in most markets are equally or nearly as likely as men to be enrolled in tertiary education,
those in the Middle East & African (MEA) lower-income markets such as Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda, Angola,
Ghana, and Nigeria continue to be marginalized with very low opportunities for higher-level education. In
other high- and middle-income regional societies such as Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Botswana and Algeria
where women’s enrollment rate is at par with men, the acquired knowledge assets are not reflected inwomen’s empowerment as business leaders, workforce participants, and professionals/technical workers.
They also tend to have less access to financial services and products such as opening a bank account or
having a credit or debit card. For example, in Malawi, only 18% of women have a bank account, while adismal 1% reported having a credit card and 7.6% a debit card. This is in stark contrast to women in the
US where over 90% have a bank account, 63% a credit card, and 80% a debit card, and Italy where over
90% have a bank account, 34% a credit card, and 78% a debit card. Data from the ILO revealed only
35% of women compared with 52% for men, have a financial account of some sort in the MEA region,
representing the widest gender disparity in account ownership of any region (World Bank, International
Labor Organization 2017).
According to a World Bank Development Research Group reportxix, the availability of financial services does
not always correlate with an increase in the rate of financial inclusion in a community due to the fact thatmany individuals in the MEA region voluntarily refrain from using financial services for religious or cultural
reasons. Research also revealed that although women here generally have the legal right to own property,
enter legal contracts, apply for loans and access credit, they frequently abstain from doing so due towidespread gender-based discrimination in other areas. Moreover, members of the MEA Business Women’s
Network disclosed that some of the biggest hurdles they faced in seeking finances for their businesses
included: high interest rates (67%), lack of collateral guarantees (36%), complicated application process(31%), and lack of business track record (17%), and discriminatory treatment from the banks (16%). Yet, inspite of these constraints, some of the highest Women Business Ownership Rates are observed in the MEA
region in Uganda (38.2%, rank 1), Ghana (37.9%, rank 2), Botswana (36.0%, rank 3), Malawi (31.1%, rank 7)
and Angola (30.3%, rank 9).
Findings from OECD research also highlight that although women in the MEA region are making notable
progress in terms of education and skill sets, not enough has been done to bring legislation and social norms
into line with such advances. With an average of just 24% of employed women in the region, this comparessignificantly weaker to the figure of 60% in OECD Markets. More pointedly, gender-based discrimination inlaws and social norms is costing the region up to USD575 billion annually (OECD Development Centre’s SIGI
gender index) due to the failure to harness the talent of working-age women.xxii

2.4
Component B:
Knowledge Assets &Financial Access

MIWE 201954

Table 12:
ChangeScore & Ranking
for Component B
B: Knowledge
Assets &compared
Financial Access2019)
Table 12 below showshowtheinscores
for Component
has changed
to(2018
thetoprevious
publication.
Component B:
Component B:
Knowledge Assets & Financial Access SCORE
Knowledge Assets & Financial Access RANKING
Change inChange in
2019
2018
2019
2018
SCORE
RANKING
Malaysia
82.7
80.6
1
3
2
2.6%
Singapore
82.5
85.0
2
1
-1
-2.9%
South Korea
82.0
78.8
3
8
5
4.1%
Ireland
81.2
76.4
4
20
16
6.4%
Vietnam
79.5
83.4
5
2
-3
-4.7%
United Arab Emirates
79.2
74.8
6
24
18
6.0%
Switzerland
79.1
77.0
7
17
10
2.8%
Israel
78.3
77.2
8
15
7
1.5%
United Kingdom
78.2
78.4
9
10
1
-0.2%
France
78.2
74.9
10
23
13
4.4%
New Zealand
77.8
78.8
11
7
-4
-1.3%
Thailand
77.5
79.1
12
5
-7
-2.0%
Denmark
77.3
77.4
13
13
0
0.0%
Indonesia
77.3
79.0
14
6
-8
-2.2%
Taiwan (China)
77.2
76.6
15
19
4
0.9%
Spain
77.2
78.7
16
9
-7
-1.9%
Chile
76.7
77.5
17
12
-5
-1.0%
United States
76.5
76.1
18
21
3
0.5%
Mainland China
76.2
78.3
19
11
-8
-2.6%
Philippines
75.0
79.9
20
4
-16
-6.1%
Poland
74.9
73.6
21
28
7
1.8%
Mexico
74.7
74.4
22
26
4
0.5%
Hong Kong SAR
74.6
74.6
23
25
2
0.0%
Romania
74.1
77.1
24
16
-8
-3.9%
Turkey
74.0
71.4
25
33
8
3.6%
Argentina
73.8
75.8
26
22
-4
-2.6%
Islamic Republic of Iran
73.4
74.0
27
27
0
-0.7%
Hungary
73.1
71.0
28
34
6
3.0%
Russia
73.1
68.1
29
44
15
7.2%
South Africa
72.8
77.3
30
14
-16
-5.8%
Uruguay
72.3
73.4
31
29
-2
-1.4%
Colombia
71.9
72.6
32
30
-2
-1.0%
Portugal
71.5
76.9
33
18
-15
-7.1%
Czech Republic
71.0
69.2
34
38
4
2.7%
Canada
70.9
72.5
35
31
-4
-2.2%
Ghana
70.5
70.7
36
35
-1
-0.3%
India
70.5
66.7
37
47
10
5.7%
Costa Rica
70.4
69.1
38
39
1
1.9%
Australia
69.9
68.9
39
41
2
1.4%
Brazil
69.0
69.9
40
37
-3
-1.2%
Germany
68.9
70.5
41
36
-5
-2.3%
Belgium
67.5
71.5
42
32
-10
-5.6%
Saudi Arabia
66.5
61.2
43
52
9
8.6%
Uganda
65.7
66.3
44
48
4
-0.9%
Botswana
65.1
68.9
45
42
-3
-5.4%
Peru
65.0
69.1
46
40
-6
-5.8%
Ecuador
64.4
68.8
47
43
-4
-6.5%
Sweden
64.3
68.1
48
45
-3
-5.5%
Malawi
62.4
60.9
49
53
4
2.5%
Japan
62.3
66.7
50
46
-4
-6.6%
Angola
62.1
61.7
51
50
-1
0.6%
Nigeria
62.0
61.3
52
51
-1
1.1%
Ethiopia
60.9
62.1
53
49
-4
-1.8%
Algeria
59.9
60.0
54
55
1
-0.1%
Italy
59.7
59.7
55
56
1
0.0%
Tunisia
58.8
60.8
56
54
-2
-3.2%
Bangladesh
55.7
52.8
57
58
1
5.5%
Egypt
55.7
53.0
58
57
-1
5.1%
Note: *Scores for 2019 are different from that shown in the previous year’s report due to data updates.
**Angola is latest market added to the MIWE 2019
Table 12: Change in Score & Ranking for Component B: Knowledge Assets & Financial Access (2018 to 2019)
Note: *Scores for 2019 are different from that shown in the previous year’s report due to data updates.
2.5. COMPONENT C: SUPPORTING ENTREPRENEURIAL CONDITIONS**Angola is latest market added to the MIWE 2019Market34 | P a g e

M a s t e r c a r d

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2 0 1 92.5
Component C:
Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions

MIWE 201955

The Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions Component (C) gauges how supportive entrepreneurial
conditions are as enablers or constraints of women business ownership. It comprises 4 indicators: (i) Easeof Doing Business, (ii) Cultural Perceptions of Women Entrepreneurs, (iii) Quality of Governance, and (iv)
Entrepreneurial
SupportingConditions
Factors. Component
The
Supporting
The
Supporting Entrepreneurial
Entrepreneurial
Conditions
Component (C)(C) gauges
gauges how
how supportive
supportive entrepreneurial
entrepreneurial conditions
conditions areare asas enablers
enablers oror
constraints
constraints ofof women
women businessbusiness ownership.
ownership. It
It comprises
comprises 44 indicators:
indicators: (i)(i) Ease
Ease ofof Doing
Doing Business,
Business, (ii)(ii) Cultural
Cultural Perceptions
Perceptions ofof Women
Women
Entrepreneurs,
Entrepreneurs, (iii)(iii) Quality
Quality ofof Governance,
Governance, andand (iv)(iv) Entrepreneurial
Entrepreneurial Supporting
Supporting Factors.
Factors.

v
v Top
Top &
& BottomBottom Performers
Performers
Markets
Markets thatthat areare wealthy
wealthy andand moremore developed
developed such
such asas HongHong Kong
Kong SAR,
SAR, thethe US
US andand New
New Zealand
Zealand tend
tend toto render
render thethe most
most conducive
conduciveandand enabling
enabling factors
factors forfor entrepreneurship,
entrepreneurship, while
while thethe less
less wealthy
wealthy andand less
less advanced
advanced nations
nations such
such asas Egypt,
Egypt, Ethiopia
Ethiopia andand Malawi
Malawi2.5
Component C:
Supporting Entrepreneurial
Conditions

MIWE 201956

Top & Bottom Performers
Markets that are wealthy and more developed such as Hong Kong SAR, the US and New Zealand tend
to render the most conducive and enabling factors for entrepreneurship, while the less wealthy and lessadvanced nations such as Egypt, Ethiopia and Malawi are entangled with more constraints and barriers.
The results showed that women entrepreneurs in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America are driven byfavorable and enabling conditions such as high ease of doing business, positive cultural and social regard for
entrepreneurship, high quality of governance, availability of skilled employees, and ease of market entry for
new businesses. In Asia, 8 markets assume the top 20 positions in Component C, with Hong Kong SAR (rank1), New Zealand (rank 3) and Singapore (rank 6) leading the pack. Similarly, the US and Canada in North
America, and Switzerland, Canada, Denmark, the UK and Ireland in Europe are also ranked among the top
10 globally.
Surprisingly, although Hong Kong SAR is home to the world’s best entrepreneurial supporting factors
where society values entrepreneurial risk-taking, business success, creativity and innovativeness, and skilledemployees are relatively easy to find, women’s share of the business world is surprisingly low (19.8%,
rank 42). Conversely, in the US, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland and Canada, the highly supportive
entrepreneurial conditions, among other factors, appear to be play a role in advancing women’s ability to
thrive in business (e.g. 35.1% female ownership for the US, 31.8% for New Zealand, 30.9% for Australia and30.2% for Portugal).
There are also markets that are uniquely placed such as Nigeria, Brazil and Ecuador that score very
disappointingly in Component C due to poor quality of governance and barriers in doing business, but
outshine most of their global peers in terms of Component A: Women’s Advancement Outcomes andWomen Business Owners (F%T). Women here tend to be fairly represented as business leaders (more than
1 in 4), account for more than half of all professionals and technicians and are close to or at parity in termsof engagement in entrepreneurial activity. In Nigeria, although women’s workforce participation rate isvery low with only 13.2% of working age women active in the workforce, and women’s tertiary education
enrollment rate is low (8%), they have a healthy share of the business world (25%) and very high proportionof female entrepreneurial activity rate (40.7% of working age population are females compared to 39.0%
for males). Nigerian women are also highly motivated by improvement-driven opportunities (73.8%
compared to 25.3% for necessity-driven). This admirable track record is backed by a very strong and positive
culture that applauds entrepreneurial success, business risk-taking, innovativeness and individuality –conditions that appear to override the barriers presented by very poor quality of governance and challenges
in doing business.

2.5
Component C:
Supporting Entrepreneurial
Conditions

MIWE 2019

Table 13: Summary of Component C: Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions
Component C:
Supporting
Entrepreneurial
Conditions (SCORE)
80-100Color
in MapRegions & Selected Markets

Comments

Blue§ Only 1 market (Hong Kong
SAR) with score above 80§ Supportive Entrepreneurial Conditions in Hong Kong SAR is impressively strong,
underpinned by very high ease of doing business, positive social and cultural
regard for entrepreneurship, high quality of governance, and highly developed
financial infrastructure.
§ Society is the 2nd most receptive and open towards business failure (trailing only
Malaysia)§ However, Women’s Business Ownership Rate is still lower than expected at
19.8% (rank 42) likely due to high fear of business failure, low self confidence interms of capabilities to start or run a business, in turn discouraging the
motivation/drive towards entrepreneurship (Entrepreneurial Intentions Rate low
at 16.3% compared to 22.3% global average)

70-80

Green

§ 13 markets; all highincome & innovationdriven§ North America: 2 led by
the US§ Asia: 3 markets led by New
Zealand§ Europe: 6 markets led by
Switzerland§ MEA: 1 (Israel)§ Highly Supportive Entrepreneurial Conditions characterized by ease of doing
business, good quality of governance, strong entrepreneurial supporting factors
such as rule of law, positive attitude towards business failure, availability ofskilled employees.
§ Women just as likely as men to be driven by opportunities (vs necessity)§ Society generally has high regard for entrepreneurship§ Gender gap in entrepreneurial activity is wider in Singapore, Sweden Switzerland
and the UK, but narrow in Canada, the US, UAE and Israel§ Women’s representation as business leaders & professionals/technicians
generally high, except UAE§ Women’s Business Ownership is fairly high in most markets, except UAE, Israel
and Sweden

60-70

Yellow§ 14 markets, mostly highincome§ Asia: 6 led by Taiwan(China)§ Europe: 5 markets led byGermany§ Latin America: 2 led by
Chile§ MEA: 1 (Botswana)§ Generally high ease of doing business, quality of governance and enabling
entrepreneurial supporting factors§ Cultural perception of entrepreneurs less positive, especially in Japan and some
European markets Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland & Spain§ Women Business Ownership varies widely with highest representation in
Botswana, Spain & Poland, and lowest in Malaysia, South Korea & Japan§ Botswana: Does not very high score in Component C (especially in cultural
perception of entrepreneurs & entrepreneurial supporting factors) but has very
high share of women as business owners (36%), business leaders (38.7%),
professionals/technicians (48.7%) and labor force participation (84%)§ Japan, South Korea & Taiwan (China): High Income & Advanced but weaker than
expected supporting entrepreneurial conditions appear to be suppressing
women’s ability to thrive in society as leaders and business owners

50-60

White

§ 21 markets, mostly upper
middle income with somehigh & lower middle
income§ Asia: 5 markets led byIndia§ Europe: 6 markets led by
Italy§ MEA: 5 markets led by
Ghana§ Latin America: 6 markets
led by Uruguay§ Ease of Doing Business generally quite high; but Cultural perception ofentrepreneurs, Quality of Governance & Entrepreneurial Supporting Factors varyfrom poor in markets such as South Africa, Hungary, Russia, Tunisia§ Uganda: Outlier with weak Component C score due to poor quality of
governance, poor support for SMEs & Ease of doing business, less opportunities
for women to seek higher level education; yet tops the index with highest
proportion of female business owners (38.2%) & highest rate of Women
Entrepreneurial Activity (37% of working age engaged in early-stage
entrepreneurial activity is a women compared to 33.7% for men)
§ Russia & Turkey: Quality of Governance very poor, reflected in low Component Cscore, although knowledge assets & financial access are quite healthy. Russia has
high women business ownership rate (31.2% of total) and high female businessleaders and professionals/technicians compared to regional peers, but Women
Entrepreneurial Activity Rate is very low with only 3.9% of working age
entrepreneurs being female compared to 7.3% for male.
§ Results showed that the entrepreneurial supporting factors did not have a
direct bearing on women’s ability to thrive in the business world

40-50

Pink

§ 7 markets, mostly lower
middle and low income§ Latin America: 1 (Brazil)§ MEA: 5 markets

30-40

Orange§ 3 markets all from MEA(Egypt, Iran & Angola)§ Poor Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions appear to constrain women’s
progress in society as business leaders, professionals/technicians§ Knowledge Assets & Financial Access generally very poor, especially in MEA§ Women’s advancement outcome tends to be very poor in lower income
markets such as Malawi, Ethiopia, Egypt, Bangladesh§ Women’s Entrepreneurial Activity can be very high (Angola, Nigeria), likely
driven by necessity (to make a living or supplement family income due to poor
economic conditions)

Table 13: Summary of Component C: Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions
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2.5
Component C:
Supporting Entrepreneurial
Conditions

MIWE 201958

Table 14 below shows how the scores and rankings for Component C have changed in a year. Markets
whose scores rose or declined by +/-3% are highlighted in color below. Of the 58 markets, Saudi Arabia’sscore rose the most, up 7.5% from 54.1 to 58.1, advancing it 11 ranks from 44th to 33rd. This was driven by
a jump in ‘Cultural Perceptions of Entrepreneurs’ (up from 50.1 to 63.2). Russia’s score rose 5.3% from 48.6
to 51.2, moving it 3 spots up 50th to 47th for Component C, buoyed by an increase in all 4 sub-indicators,
especially ‘Cultural Perceptions of Entrepreneurs’, ‘Quality of Governance’, and Entrepreneurial Supporting
Factors’.
Of those markets whose scores retreated, the most prominent was observed in South Africa, with a -8.3%
drop from 58.3 to 53.4, bringing it down 12 spots from 33rd to 45th. This decline was weighed down by a
sharp pullback in cultural regard for entrepreneurship, especially in terms of the extent to which the nationencourages and supports entrepreneurial success, risk taking, creativity and innovativeness, and individuality.
This is reflected in the low entrepreneurial intentions rate among South Africans in general (12% comparedto the global and regional averages of 22% and 33%, respectively). Furthermore, economic growth has
been sluggish with GDP declining from around 1.6% in late 2017 to nearly zero growth in mid-2018 as thenation grappled with contraction in agriculture amid political and economic setbacks and protracted social
challenges such as extremely high income inequality and unemployment. These conditions would have likely
dampened sentiment and motivation for business startups and risk taking. Other markets that retreatedin Component C included Peru, Poland and Taiwan (China) (down -5.0% or more), weighed down by large
pullbacks in regard for entrepreneurship.

2.5
Component C:
Supporting Entrepreneurial
Conditions

MIWE 201959

Table 14: Change in Score & Ranking for Component C: Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions (2018-2019)
Component C:
Component C:
Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions SCORE
Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions RANKING
Change inChange in
2019*
2018
2019
2018
SCORE
RANKING
Hong Kong SAR
80.5
80.4
1
1
0
0.1%
United States
79.5
79.6
2
3
1
0.0%
New Zealand
78.6
80.2
3
2
-1
-2.0%
Switzerland
78.0
79.1
4
4
0
-1.5%
Canada
77.5
77.1
5
6
1
0.6%
Singapore
77.0
77.7
6
5
-1
-1.0%
Denmark
75.0
74.0
7
12
5
1.4%
United Kingdom
74.9
74.6
8
10
2
0.5%
Ireland
74.5
74.6
9
9
0
-0.1%
Israel
74.3
73.9
10
13
3
0.4%
Sweden
74.0
76.8
11
7
-4
-3.6%
Australia
72.3
76.0
12
8
-4
-4.8%
United Arab Emirates
71.7
71.0
13
15
2
1.0%
Portugal
70.3
66.9
14
20
6
5.0%
Germany
69.9
72.2
15
14
-1
-3.1%
Taiwan (China)
69.8
74.0
16
11
-5
-5.7%
Malaysia
68.5
69.5
17
17
0
-1.5%
South Korea
67.1
67.6
18
19
1
-0.7%
Japan
66.8
69.9
19
16
-3
-4.5%
Belgium
66.7
66.0
20
22
2
1.2%
Chile
66.5
68.5
21
18
-3
-2.9%
France
65.0
64.7
22
25
3
0.4%
Costa Rica
64.7
65.4
23
24
1
-1.1%
Spain
63.5
65.7
24
23
-1
-3.3%
Poland
62.8
66.5
25
21
-4
-5.6%
Czech Republic
61.8
62.5
26
27
1
-1.0%
Botswana
60.8
62.8
27
26
-1
-3.2%
Indonesia
60.2
59.9
28
29
1
0.6%
Ghana
59.3
56.5
29
38
9
4.9%
India
58.6
58.2
30
34
4
0.6%
Uruguay
58.4
59.4
31
31
0
-1.8%
Italy
58.3
61.4
32
28
-4
-4.9%
Saudi Arabia
58.1
54.1
33
44
11
7.5%
Thailand
58.0
56.0
34
40
6
3.5%
Mainland China
57.4
55.2
35
42
7
4.0%
Romania
56.6
59.5
36
30
-6
-5.0%
Colombia
56.3
57.4
37
35
-2
-1.9%
Philippines
55.7
53.8
38
45
7
3.5%
Turkey
55.1
55.6
39
41
2
-0.9%
Peru
55.0
58.3
40
32
-8
-5.6%
Argentina
55.0
56.1
41
39
-2
-2.0%
Mexico
54.7
57.0
42
36
-6
-3.9%
Vietnam
53.9
54.2
43
43
0
-0.6%
Hungary
53.6
56.9
44
37
-7
-5.8%
South Africa
53.4
58.3
45
33
-12
-8.3%
Uganda
51.3
49.2
46
49
3
4.2%
Russia
51.2
48.6
47
50
3
5.3%
Tunisia
50.7
50.1
48
47
-1
1.2%
Ecuador
50.5
49.3
49
48
-1
2.5%
Brazil
49.7
51.2
50
46
-4
-2.9%
Malawi
47.2
46.4
51
51
0
1.7%
Algeria
44.3
43.4
52
52
0
2.0%
Nigeria
42.8
42.3
53
53
0
1.2%
Bangladesh
41.7
41.9
54
54
0
-0.6%
Ethiopia
40.9
41.8
55
55
0
-2.0%
Egypt
40.4
39.3
56
57
1
3.0%
Islamic Republic of Iran
39.3
40.7
57
56
-1
-3.5%
Angola
36.4
35.4
2.9%
58
58
0
Note: *Scores for 2019 are different from that shown in the previous year’s report due to data updates. **Angola is latest market added to the MIWE 2019
Table 14: Change in Score & Ranking for Component C: Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions (2018-2019)
Note: *Scores for 2019 are different from that shown in the previous year’s report due to data updates.
**Angola is latest market added to the MIWE 2019Market37 | P a g e

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2 0 1 9

MIWE 2019

3.0

60

3.0
Expectations of
Women’s Progress at Work

MIWE 201961

3.0

Expectations of
Women’s Progress
at Work
The matrix chart below depicts the relationship between the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs(MIWE) 2019 scores and the Benchmark indicator - Women Business Owners (as a percentage of all
business owners). The upward-curving dotted trend line suggests there is a strong, positive correlation
between the overall Index scores and Women Business Owners (as a percentage of all owners). The
trend line represents the expected Women Business Ownership score at different MIWE score levels. The
clustering of economies near this imaginary ‘line of best fit’ points to a positive relationship that in general,a high MIWE score - which denotes high women advancement outcomes, high knowledge assets andfinancial access, and enabling entrepreneurial factors – is aligned with high female business ownership, andvice versa.
The chart shows that, in general, women in markets with higher MIWE scores of above 55 tend to be more
inclined or driven to be business owners, accounting for more than 15% of total business owners. This is at
the right of the matrix where the majority of high-income (blue) and upper-middle income (green) markets
are concentrated. These include the North American economies such as United States (US) and Canada(CAN); Asia Pacific markets such as New Zealand (NZL), Singapore (SGP), Australia (AUS), Taiwan (China)(TWN), Hong Kong SAR (HKG) and mainland China (CHN); European markets such as Spain (ESP), GreatBritain (GBR), Portugal (PRT), Ireland (IRL), Poland (POL), France (FRA), Germany (DEU) and Belgium(BEL). These are wealthy nations that are developed and innovation-driven and tend to provide highly
conducive and enabling conditions that help fuel women as business owners/entrepreneurs.
In contrast women in markets with lower index scores of below 55 are less driven towards businessownership (less than 15%). This is observed mostly in less wealthy and less developed, factor-driven
economies such as Ethiopia (ETH), India (IND), Tunisia (TUN), the United Arab Emirates (ARE), Iran (IRN)
Bangladesh (BGD), and Egypt (EGY). Here, the underlying conditions for women business ownership/
entrepreneurship are less conducive, and women tend to be marginalized due to cultural and social bias thathinder their ability to be empowered as business owners and leaders. Apart from the lack of government
programs to support business startup, women tend to have poor financial backing that prevents them fromowing credit cards or having a bank account – conditions that would have restricted them from engaging inlarge scale businesses or entrepreneurial activities that require large funding.

n contrast women in markets with lower index scores of below 55 are less driven towards business ownership (less than 15%)This is observed mostly in less wealthy and less developed, factor-driven economies such as Ethiopia (ETH), India (IND), Tunisi
TUN), the United Arab Emirates (ARE), Iran (IRN) Bangladesh (BGD), and Egypt (EGY). Here, the underlying conditions for women
3.0
business ownership/entrepreneurshipare less conducive, and women tend to be marginalized due tocultural
62 social bias tha
MIWE2019 and
Expectations of Women’shinder their ability
to be empowered as business owners and leaders. Apart from the lack of government programs to supporprogress as business owners
business startup, women tend to have poor financial backing that prevents them from owing credit cards or having a bank accoun– conditions that would have restricted them from engaging in large scale businesses or entrepreneurial activities that require
arge funding.

8|P a g e

Women in low-income markets Uganda (UGA) and Malawi (MWI) surprise and outperform most of theirglobal peers with very high Female Business Ownership (38.2% - Rank 1 and 31.1% - Rank 7, respectively)
M a s t e r c a r d

I n d e xo f

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E n t r e p r e n e u r s

2 0 1 9despite less conducive entrepreneurial conditions such as poor support for SMEs, less effective andavailability of government programs rendering business aid, and poor quality of governance.

Saudi Arabia (SAU) and the United Arab Emirates (ARE) are the only 2 high-income and innovation-driven
economies that had very low women business ownership rate (below 10%) and low MIWE index scores(less than 55.0) despite women having very high access and opportunities for higher-level education. Dataalso showed that the social regard for entrepreneurs and underlying entrepreneurial supporting factors
in these 2 markets are very favorable and conducive. For example, the United Arab Emirates ranks very
highly in ‘Cultural Perception of Entrepreneurs’, especially in terms of support for successful entrepreneurs
and regard for individuality and innovativeness. Furthermore, a high proportion of the population perceive
entrepreneurship to be a good career choice (72% compared to global and regional averages of around63%). However, although the share of female business owners remains low here, of those who do own abusiness, the inclination to grow the business is strong. This is evident in GEM’s latest 2018 data whichshowed that on average, more than half of those involved in some form of entrepreneurial activity expected
to create 6 or more jobs in the next 5 years (‘High Job Creation Expectation Rate’ of 53% compared to
global and regional averages of 21% and 23%, respectively).xxiii

3.0
Expectations of Women’s
progress as business owners

MIWE 201963Markets above the MIWE Benchmark Trendline
The latest results showed a segregation of markets around the MIWE benchmark trendline. Those thatare positioned above the trendline are those that outperform and surpass their global peers in terms ofwomen’s ability to thrive in society given their respective local conditions. This cohort comprises markets
from a range of income levels. The less wealthy nations include Ghana (GHA), Uganda (UGA), Malawi(MWI), Nigeria (NGA), and Tunisia (TUN), while the upper-middle and high-income economies include
Botswana (BWA), Russia (RUS), Brazil (BRA), among others. Women here are able to thrive in business, withownership rates ranging from 20% to 40% of total even though the underlying entrepreneurial conditions
are not always favorable and women do not necessarily have equal access to financial services and higherlevel education. This could be driven by positive cultural norms and the desire to improve one’s income andfinancial independence. It is also likely that these businesses or entrepreneurial activities are small-scale that
do not require large amount of funding. Some of the lower-middle income economies include Ghana (GHA)
with the 2nd highest women business ownership rate (37.9%), as well as Vietnam (VNM), Philippines (PHL),
Indonesia (IDN) and Nigeria (NGA). Most of the markets from Latin America are also located here, including
Ecuador (ECU), Peru (PER), Brazil (BRA), Mexico (MEX), Colombia (COL), Costa Rica (CRI), and Argentina(ARG).
Uganda, a low-income, factor-driven economy with the highest women’s business ownership is an
exceptional case where women’s share of the business world is the highest among the 58 markets (38.2%).
The entrepreneurial ecosystem here is unique. For instance, the entrepreneurial conditions here are notably
below par (very poor quality of governance, low ease of doing business, very poor support for SMEs) andwomen’s enrollment in tertiary education is acutely low (only 4.0% of females of tertiary age are actuallyenrolled in a college/university). Yet, a very high proportion of working age females are engaged in earlystage entrepreneurial activity (37.1%, surpassing male’s rate of 33.7%). Women-led entrepreneurs here also
tend to be significantly more opportunity-driven as opposed to necessity. High social regard is conferred tosuccessful entrepreneurs, especially those who demonstrate innovation, individuality, creativity and risktaking. GEM’s data also showed that in general, only a very low percentage (13%) of the general population
will be deterred by fear of business failure (compared to regional and global averages of 24% and36%,
respectively). The exceptionally high representation of female business owners is also fueled by a highperception of opportunities (76.9% vs global average of 42.7%) and high perception of capabilities (84.9%
vs 51.0%). It should be noted that the established business ownership rate here (36%) far surpasses theglobal and regional averages (8% and 13%, respectively).xxiv

3.0
Expectations of Women’s
progress as business owners

MIWE 201964

Markets below the MIWE Benchmark trendline
The matrix showed that there are some markets where women business ownership is not taking off despite
promising entrepreneurial conditions. This is observed in the high-income and advanced economies of US,
New Zealand (NAL), Canada (CAN), Singapore (SGP), Ireland (IRL), Switzerland (CHE) and Great Britain(GBR) that reside below the MIWE benchmark trendline.
Using top performing market, the United States as an example, with a MIWE score of 70.3 (rank 1), theline of best fit suggests that women business ownership could be even higher at around 40% comparedto the current rate of 35%. Research findings pointed to a multitude of positive aspects in the Americanbusiness world, such as vibrant internal market dynamics that spur motivation for business startups;
superior commercial, legal and educational infrastructure; and positive cultural and social norms thatembrace entrepreneurship and confer high regard for success in business. In addition, the rate of perceptionof opportunity for women has also been improving (59% in 2017, up 15% since 2015). However, when it
comes to perception of capabilities, women continue to trail their male counterparts: 61% to 65% for
men compared to 46% to 50% for women. Research also show women to be more risk averse than men
in business, a trend that has been consistent over the past several years. This appears to be withholding
women’s intention to start a business: men’s entrepreneurial intention has been rising from 13% to 19% in2017 while women’s intention rate has stalled at 11% over the past 2 years.xxv

MIWE 2019

4.0

65

4.0
Conclusion

MIWE 2019

66

4.0

Conclusion
The results of the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs 2019 (MIWE) reaffirmed a positive
correlation between the overall Index score and women’s ability to flourish in the business world. In general,markets with highly favorable and promising entrepreneurial framework and conditions such as high easeof doing business and well-developed infrastructures tend to drive women towards entrepreneurship. These
markets are usually open, vibrant and dynamic, and are driven by social norms that deeply encourage andpromote innovativeness, creativity, risk-taking and success through personal perseverance. Women in these
entrepreneurial ecosystems thrive and succeed while overcoming barriers such as lack of funding. The social/
cultural bias tend to be less pronounced, granting women fair opportunities to rise as business leaders andmanagers, gain tertiary education and contribute to the economy by participating in the workforce, andbe perceived and accepted as successful entrepreneurs. Women here are also better positioned to pursue
good business opportunities (as opposed to being necessity-driven) and may demonstrate higher motivation
to engage in early-stage entrepreneurial activities. These markets reside at the top of the MIWE and areusually high-income, innovative and well-developed economies such as the United States, New Zealand,
Canada, Israel, Ireland, Taiwan (China), Switzerland, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Poland.
At the other end of the spectrum, markets that are ranked low in the Mastercard Index of Women
Entrepreneurs 2019 have less supportive entrepreneurial conditions to empower women. In thesegenerally less wealthy, less innovative and factor-driven economies such as Egypt, Bangladesh, Saudi
Arabia, India and Iran, women encounter more constraints such as cultural bias where they are lessaccepted and regarded as being equal in business, less opportunities to rise in the economy as leaders,managers and professionals, and less access to financial privileges and ability to seek funding. As a result,female-led entrepreneurial activities here tend to be more susceptible to discontinuity for reasons such as
unprofitability and lack of funding. Women here need to overcome infrastructural shortcomings such as lessdeveloped financial and commercial systems, lack of effective and efficient government support programs,
and less opportunities for higher level education. Under these circumstances, women are less able to growtheir businesses and take their aspirations to international markets.
The results also revealed that due to the intrinsically unique and distinctive macroeconomic fundamentals
and complexities arising out of multiple market forces at play, there are some markets where womenbusiness ownership has remained stagnant notwithstanding highly favorable and supportive
entrepreneurial conditions (reflected through high MIWE scores). This is observed in the high-income andadvanced economies of US, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore, Ireland, Switzerland and Great Britainthat reside below the MIWE benchmark trendline. In these economies, women may be deterred by various
factors such as lack of self-confidence (low perceived capabilities), fear of failure and/or the fact that
entrepreneurship is not well regarded as a sound career choice.

4.0
Conclusion

MIWE 201967

Conversely, there are markets where women business owner’s rate is much higher than expected given theirrespective local conditions. Women outperform their peers and are positioned above the MIWE benchmark
trendline and operate in less wealthy and developed markets such as Uganda, Malawi, Angola, Nigeria,
Ghana, Botswana and Russia. In these unique settings, the high rate of women businesses owners may be
driven by positive cultural conditions and a strong desire to improve one’s income and financial situation.
The latest data also show women achieving gender equality in entrepreneurship in 7 markets (1 more thanthe previous year), including Ecuador, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda. Thissuggests that in these economies, women are just as inclined as men to engage in entrepreneurship.
The results underscored that gender inequality is ubiquitous but manifested across the markets in differingways. The findings also suggested that such marginalization hinders the empowerment of women socially,
professionally, economically and politically, and is a key constraint holding back women’s progress in business.
For instance, in top ranking United States where the underlying entrepreneurial framework and market
dynamics are among the best in the world, women’s progress as business owners is still held back by fearof failing and low self-confidence. In Canada, women aspiring to start their own businesses are challenged
in getting venture capital funding due to gender discrimination. In Ireland, the overall high MIWE score isa stark contrast to the low rate of women business ownership owing to fear of failing, low perception ofcapabilities, and poor mentorship and networking support.
The analysis of the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs 2019 will not be complete without
consideration of the impact of local and global economic events and how these may affect the businesslandscape. Some of the most impactful ones are the uncertainties associated with Brexit and the ‘Yellow
Vest’ protests in France that has severely dented businesses in many industries, especially in hotels,
restaurants, retailers and department stores. In Asia, the uncertainties associated with the protracted USChina trade dispute and the ramifications that have spread across most regional economies have not only
dented market sentiments, but would likely have caused those aspiring towards entrepreneurship to holdback their intentions, at least for the time being.
Finally, although it is widely recognized and appreciated that there remains a significant amount of
untapped talent in women as valuable contributors towards economic growth and the wellbeing of theirsocieties, all around the world, gender discrimination remains widespread and a lack of targeted support
continue to restrain women in their path towards business ownership.xxvi

MIWE 2019

5.0

68

5.1
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019

69

A
United States
Helm of index

High income

High
Women Business
OwnershipHighoverall index
score

For the first time since the MIWE series started in 2017, the United States assumed 1st place in the
Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneur 2019 with a score of 70.3, up 1.4 points from the previous year.
The increase in score and ranking was fueled by a surge in Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate (F/M)
from 64.1% to 76.8% and a very strong standing in Component C: Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions,especially in terms of ‘Ease of Doing Business’ (rank 6), ‘Cultural Perception of Entrepreneurs’ (rank 2), and‘Entrepreneurial Supporting Factors’ (rank 3).

5.1
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201970

United States
Summary Findings
Benchmark
Women Business Owners- WBO Score :MIWE
Score :

35.1

70.3

(2018: Score 35.1, Rank 4)

Rank 4High
incomeHigh
WBO

Women’s
Advancement
Outcomes:(2018: Score 57.3,
Rank 16)

Rank 9(2018: Score 68.9, Rank 2)

High
MIWE

Component A

60.1

Rank 1

Below Trendline

Component C

Component B

Knowledge Assets &Financial Access:Supporting Entrepreneurial
Conditions

76.5

79.5

(2018: Score 76.1,
Rank 21)

Rank 18(2018: Score 79.6,
Rank 3)

Rank 2

Women Business Leaders(F%T)(39.7, rank 6)

Women Tertiary Education
GER (F/M)(100.0, rank 1)

Cultural Perceptions of
Entrepreneurs(75.6, rank 2)

Women Professionals &Technical Workers (F&T)(52.1, rank 18)

Woman Financial Inclusion(F/M)(96.4, rank 14)

Entrepreneurial Supporting
Factors(76.9, rank 3)

Woman Labor Force
Participation (F/M)(82.2, rank 21)

Support for SMEs
(59.2, rank 26)

Ease of Doing Business(82.8, rank 6)

5.1
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201971

Enablers of Women Entrepreneurship/Business Ownership
Here, the entrepreneurial ecosystem is set against a vibrant, dynamic, innovation-driven and globalized
market where the prevalence and degree of gender inequality in business and academics is comparatively
less pronounced and restrictive than in other developed economies such as Japan, South Korea, Australia,
Sweden, Algeria, and Chile. Of the 30 million businesses in the US, women own 39% or 11.6 million of thesebusinesses. Since 2007, the total number of women-owned businesses has risen by 3.8 million, an increaseof 49%. Women are vital contributors to the American economy, generating more than $1.7 trillion inreceipts.1
Women here have equal opportunities to pursue higher-level education and are slightly more engaged
than men as workforce participants (94.8% of working age women compared to 93.0% for men in 2018).
Women also stand to benefit from high quality of governance and ease of doing business in a society thathas very positive regard for success through personal effort, risk-taking, innovativeness and creativity.
Findings from GEM’s survey found the majority (79%) of the population agreeing that successful
entrepreneurs are applauded and well-regarded in America, a higher figure than the average of the 23
innovation-driven economies. These underlying conditions appear to bode exceptionally well for women in
the US to flourish and make inroads commercially and economically as business owners, business leaders,
professional/technical workers, and active labor force participants. Ranked 6th overall, women in the US
account for nearly 40% of the business leaders and more than half of those in professional or technical roles(52%, rank 18).
The entrepreneurial environment in the US is unique and distinctive. A correlation analysis of real GDP
growth and Women Business Ownership (F%T) revealed that there is no direct correlation between thestate of the economy and women’s business ownership compared to men. The strength or weakness of theeconomy does not appear to have an impact on women’s inclination towards entrepreneurship. In fact, overthe last 16 years, a gender gap has persisted in the TEA startup rates of men and women. Although thegap has remained at about 6% for the past few years, the gap has narrowed to 4% in 2018, driven by anincrease in women’s engagement in business from 10.7% in 2017 to 13.6% in 2018, while men’s have risen
from 16.7% to 17.7%.

A Highly Opportunistic & Innovative-Driven Landscape5.1
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201972

Data from GEM revealed a trend of rising perception of opportunities among both men and women from2016 to 2017. For women, the rate of opportunity perception rose 5% from 54% to 59%, the highest everrecorded in the US GEM study, while men’s gained 8% from 61% to 69%. In fact, since 2015, women’s
perception of opportunities rose 15%, while that for men rose 19%. This steady increase likely stemmed
from the rise in support and growth in programs at colleges and universities as well as venture acceleratorsand local ecosystem incentives for business startups across the country.i
GEM’s study also highlighted one of the most commonly cited reasons for business exit is to pursue anotheropportunity (30% for the US compared to 12% on average for the 23 innovation-driven economies). Thissuggests that there is an abundance of opportunities perceived in the US society and reflects a strong
degree of willingness of entrepreneurs to leave any one venture to seek something that may present a more
promising opportunity.ii
The Motivational Index from GEM’s 2018 study also showed that Americans are 2.5 times more likely andnearly twice more likely than their global and regional peers, respectively, to be driven by the desire to
improve their income or financial independence (as opposed to being driven out of necessity). Here, as in mostindustrialized economies, opportunity motivation predominates, with 88% of women being opportunity-driven
and 85% for men, a shift from 2016 when the rate was 88% for men and 87% for women.
Of those who are involved in early-stage entrepreneurial activities, nearly one-third expressed intention
to increase their payroll by 6 or more within the next 5 years (32% compared to around 20% globally andregionally). On average, individuals who are nascent entrepreneurs or owner-manager of a new businesstend to be innovative, with 34% indicating that their product or service is new to at least some customers
and that few or no businesses offer the same (higher than global average of 26%).

Enabling Factors for Women

Data & Findings

Equal opportunities to higher-level
education (F/M = 100)

Women’s Advancement Outcomes in
the US has improved from 57.3 (rank16) to 60.1 (rank 9)High representation as businessleaders (39.7% of total)
Positive Cultural perception of
Entrepreneurs
Rising trend of perception ofopportunities from 2016 to 2017

The Supporting Entrepreneurial
Conditions are very strong in the US(rank 2)
Women: up from 54% to 59%
Men: up from 61% to 69%

Highly opportunistic environment

Women more driven than men to
pursue opportunities (women: 88% vsmen: 85%)

Growth-oriented business mindset

32% of nascent entrepreneurs plan
to hire 6 or more staff in next 5
years (higher than global & regional
averages)

Display of innovativeness

34% of products & services are new oroffered by few/no other businesses

Women Business Ownership not
impacted by strength or weakness ofthe economy

No correlation between WBO (F%T)
and GDP growth rate

Opportunities for Global Business

Increase in women entrepreneurs
making sales to customers outside
the US (14.1% in 2017 compared to
8.3% in 2015)

Table: Summary of Enabling Factors for US Women (2017)

Implications

The enabling conditions (e.g.
infrastructural, social & cultural,academics & professional) empower
American women’s ability to thrive inthe business world
Increasing the support & growthof entrepreneurship programs atcolleges & universities and otherventure initiatives will bolster businessstartups more
Women have the opportunity tocontribute to economic growth &create jobs

Entrepreneurial ecosystem presents
opportunities for creativity,
globalization, expansion, etc.

5.1
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201973

Higher TEA among Older Women Entrepreneurs then Men
In every age category, the total early-stage entrepreneurial activity rate (TEA) for men surpasses thatfor women, except for the 65 to 74 year-old cohort. Here, the TEA for women is 3% while that for men is
1%. According to a survey of 20,000 small business owners in the US by SCORE, a nationwide network ofvolunteer business mentors, women entrepreneurs aged 65 and older are more likely to start businesses
because they have lost a job or need to boost their income. This is a contrast to millennial women owners
who are more likely to be opportunity-driven. Specifically, 28% of older women started a business because
they had to, while 18% were opportunity-driven and another 18% started a business to follow their passion.
The results also revealed that older women entrepreneurs tend to be in the retail sector (15.5%), health careand social services (14.1%), and educational services (11.3%). iii
Women in Technology, Internationalization & Profitability
Although there is only a very low percentage of women venturing into IT related businesses (3.9% comparedto 11.5% for men), they are nearly as likely as men to adopt new technology in their businesses: 8.9%
compared to 10.3% for men. It is also encouraging to note the rise in women taking their businesses onto
international grounds. For instance, in 2015, only 8.3% of women reported more than 25% of their sales
from customers were from overseas. However, in 2017, the figure nearly doubled to 14.1%.
GEM’s data also showcased that the profitability gap between male and female run businesses is closing,narrowed to less than 5%. This was a result of a faster rate of profitability decline for men (21%) versus
women (9%) in 2017. iv

Constraints
Fear of Failure & Lack of Self-Confidence
Compared to men, American women are less confident in terms of their perceived capabilities to start abusiness (46% to 50% for women since 2011 against 61% to 65% for men. Women also have a greater fear of
failing in business than men (gender gap of 7%). These two trends are also observed in other innovation-driven
economies.

5.2
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019

74

B
CanadaHelm of index

High income

Lower than
expected WomenBusiness OwnershipHighoverall index
score

In 3rd place, Canadian women are among the most highly represented globally as professionals and technical workers (57.6, rank 4), and are very strongly placed in terms of access to financial services and products(100.0, rank 1), and tertiary education gross enrollment rate (100.0, rank 1). Since the last MIWE 2018 publication, there has also been a marked increase in women’s entrepreneurial activity rate (up from 15.0% in2017 to 17.0% in 2018), contrasting the decline in men’s activity rate from 22.6% to 20.4%. It is interesting
to note that not only did the percentage of necessity-driven entrepreneurship among women decrease from
14.7% to 10.0%, opportunity-driven entrepreneurship among women also increased, now surpassing that ofmen (83.3% compared to 75.9% for men).

5.2
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201975

CanadaSummary Findings
Benchmark
Women Business Owners- WBO Score :MIWE
Score :

27.3

69.0

(2018: Score 27.3, Rank 19)

Rank 19High
incomeHigh
WBO

Women’s
Advancement
Outcomes:(2018: Score 58.6,
Rank 11)

Rank 3(2018: Score 67.8, Rank 4)

High
MIWE

Component A

62.0

Rank 3

Below Trendline

Component C

Component B

Knowledge Assets &Financial Access:Supporting Entrepreneurial
Conditions

70.9

77.5

(2018: Score 72.5,
Rank 31)

Rank 35(2018: Score 77.1,
Rank 6)

Rank 5

Women Business Leaders(F%T)(57.6, rank 4)

Women Tertiary Education
GER (F/M)(100.0, rank 1)

Quality of Governance(95.0, rank 3)

Woman Labor Force
Participation (F/M)(87.2, rank 8)

Woman Financial Inclusion(F/M)(100.0, rank 1)

Cultural Perceptions of
Entrepreneurs(66.2, rank 7)

Woman Business Leaders(F%T)(35.3, rank 16)

Support for SMEs
(65.8, rank 11)

Entrepreneurial Supporting
Factors(72.6, rank 8)

5.2
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201976

Characteristics of Canadian Women in Business
On average, women business owners in Canada tend to be younger and have fewer years of management
or ownership experience than their male counterparts. Women entrepreneurs are much more likely tochoose to start and run businesses in the retail and services sectors, and are more likely than men to besolo entrepreneurs. Although the number of Canadian women entrepreneurs are growing, the income gap
between women and men business owners remains, with females drawing in 58% less than males.v
According to the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Canada Report on Women’s
Entrepreneurship, nearly 85% of women surveyed expressed interest in starting a business. Most of thewomen surveyed are highly educated with college diplomas or university degrees. 13.3% of the women
entrepreneurs were engaged in new businesses compared to 20.3% for men. However, the percentage ofwomen running established businesses that have been in operation for more than 3.5 years exceeded thatfor men: 10% for women and 7% for men.
Impressively, on a global scale, Canadian women ranked top in terms of involvement in newer businesses(early-stage businesses that have been in operation for less than 3.5 years), ahead of the US, Britain andother innovation-driven economies, and 6th for established businesses. Most of the early-stage female-led
businesses are in the consumer services sector (54%), followed by business services (28%). vi

Strengths & Enablers
Strong Societal Values
The underlying entrepreneurial conditions remained as one of the top among the 58 markets (77.5, rank 5),
underpinned by very positive ‘Cultural Perceptions of Entrepreneurs’ (66.2, rank 7), ‘Quality of Governance’(95.0, rank 3), ‘Entrepreneurial Supporting Factors’ (72.6, rank 8), and ‘Ease of Doing Business’ (79.3, rank
13). Here, the regard for successful entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship as a good career choice is high.
Society tends to be very pro-creative and innovative, and places high value on individuality, taking initiative
and achieving success through personal effort. Canadian media also reports fully on entrepreneurship.
Furthermore, entrepreneurs seeking to expand or grow their business are able to find skilled employees
readily (rank 12), and in times of business failure, society is relatively receptive and understanding (rank 18).
Governance Programs & Entrepreneurial Initiatives
The pro-entrepreneur spirit is evident in initiatives such as the ‘Invest Canada 2018’ premier private equity
and venture capital conference which highlighted how entrepreneurs are coming together to:•

Eliminate discrimination and create a level playing field for all entrepreneurs,•

Instill innovativeness into the economy, and•Seek opportunities in upcoming big industries while still innovating in the traditional ones.

There are also more than 500 governance programs in the country offering support to help entrepreneurs
build new companies. These have played an instrumental role in the startup of nearly 10,000 companies
nationwide that create new solutions in the financial services, healthcare and information technology fields.vii

5.2
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201977

Education & Support for Future Entrepreneurs, Inspiring Innovators
One of the key factors that is helping to empower Canadian women as entrepreneurs and drive thebusiness landscape lies in the education of future entrepreneurs. With the help of nearly 200 incubators
nationwide funded by government grants at every university, students are now inspired to create newideas and start creating and inventing for business startups before they graduate. viii These efforts havebeen pivotal in helping to fuel innovativeness in the business world. Compared to their global and regional
peers and leading market such as the United States, innovation rate in Canada is very high with 41% ofentrepreneurs offering new products or services that are unique to no other or only a few businesses. This
compared very favorably to the global and regional averages of 26% and 28%, and 34% in the U.S. ix
Going Global
On average, female business owners are less inclined to engage in international trade than males, although
the gap is quite narrow. For businesses that had 25% or more of their customer base outside of Canada,
32% were run by women compared to 37% by men.x
High Opportunity-Driven Conditions
In Canada, opportunity-driven entrepreneurial activity surpasses necessity-driven activities by a ratio of
4 to 1. Of the adult population aged 18 to 64, nearly 63% perceive good business opportunities in the local
area they live in, a figure that is considerably higher than the global average of 45% and is aligned withother innovation-driven economies such as the UK, US and Australia. Canadians have a strong convictionthat they have the necessary knowledge and skills to start a business (Perceived Capabilities Rate of 56%
compared to the regional average of 44%). GEM findings also show latent entrepreneurs – those whohave a preference for self-employment but still engaged in wage employment – expressing plans to start abusiness within the next 3 years (14% compared to regional average of 11% and 12% in neighboring US).

Constraints
According to the report by Pay Pal Canada and Barraza & Associates, one of the key obstacles for
women seeking to start a business in Canada is getting access to venture capital funding due to gender
discrimination (although the stigma is less now compared to the past). Of those women surveyed, nearly
half said they were challenged securing funds, and as a result, most (70%) had to try to finance their small
businesses using their personal credit card debt, making it hard to grow or expand product or service lines.
This is reflected in the high gender gap in ‘Women Borrowing or Saving for Business – F/M’ (38.5, rank 51).
Specifically, women were 3 times less likely than men to borrow or save for a business (1.7% for females vs5.1% for males). This compares poorly with other innovative-driven economies such as South Korea, New
Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, the US, and Saudi Arabia in different regions.
Some factors that may be constraining women’s progress include:•

relatively high fear of failure (42% vs global and regional averages of 36% and 39%, respectively);and•rising interest rate environment that may be deterring potential entrepreneurs to seek funding for
new business startups (the benchmark interest rate has been hiked from 0.5 per cent in 2017 to
1.75 per cent this year).

Sluggish economic growth, elevated household debts, global trade tensions and sluggish retail sales areother factors that may be deterring individuals from taking the initiative to start a business.

5.2
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201978

The Way Ahead
Although there are numerous barriers and gender gaps in the Canadian small business ecosystem,
findings are pointing to avenues whereby the disparity may be bridged. For example, figures showed thate-commerce tools play a pivotal role in helping to close the revenue gap between men and women-owned
businesses from 58% to 44%. Online sales platform also helps to boost the revenue potential for womenbusiness owners by nearly 75% compared to offline sales. In addition, of those women who owned online
businesses, those that reached out to international markets tend to be more successful (61%).xi
In recent years, the Canadian government has stepped up its commitment to support female
entrepreneurs. In the 2018 Federal Budget, nearly $1.5 billion in new financing has been set aside
for women-led businesses over a period of 3 years, commencing in 2018-2019. To support women
entrepreneurs who required funding to tap the global marketplace, the government has also earmarked$250 million in funding over the next 3 years through the Export Development Canada (EDC). In addition tomonetary aid, EDC will also provide expert advice, training programs and partnership to further strengthen
women entrepreneurship.xii Other sources of export financing for women entrepreneurs wishing to tap
international markets include:xiii•

The Business Development Bank of Canada – Women In Technology Venture Fund that is geared
towards supporting women-led tech firms and seed funds for targeted regional initiatives•

CanExport: A multi-year Government of Canada program that provides direct financial assistanceto SMEs registered in Canada that are seeking to develop new export opportunities and markets•

Futurpreneurcanada: The only non-profit organization that provides financing, mentoring andsupport tools to aspiring business owners aged 18 to 39•

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada – WES Ecosystem Fund: A funding programthat helps to address gaps and build capacity in the entrepreneurship ecosystem for women•Startup Canada Women Entrepreneurship Fund: A fund that invests in high-impact, grassroots
initiatives that will advance women’s entrepreneurship5.3
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019

79

C
IrelandHelm of index

High income

Lower than
expected WomenBusiness OwnershipHighoverall index
score

With an overall MIWE score of 67.7 and ranking in 5th place, Ireland is strongly placed globally in terms of
Component B: Knowledge Assets (81.2, rank 4) and Component C: Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions(74.5, rank 9). Compared to their peers in other high-income, innovation-driven economies, Irish women areprogressing fairly well as professionals & technical workers (50.5% of total, rank 24) and business leaders(35.6% of total, rank 14), but lag in their share of the business world (22.9%, rank 34). Compared to men,
women are more likely to engage in opportunity-driven entrepreneurship than men (77.8% compared to75.2% for men).

5.3
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201980

Ireland
Summary Findings
Benchmark
Women Business Owners- WBO Score :MIWE
Score :

22.9

67.7

(2018: Score 22.9, Rank 35)

Rank 34

High
incomeHigh
WBO

Women’s
Advancement
Outcomes:(2018: Score 52.6,
Rank 29)

Rank 22(2018: Score 65.4, Rank 12)

High
MIWE

Ccomponent A

55.0

Rank 5

Below Trendline

Component C

Component B

Knowledge Assets &Financial Access:Supporting Entrepreneurial
Conditions

81.2

74.5

(2018: Score 76.4,
Rank 20)

Rank 4(2018: Score 74.6,
Rank 9)Rank 9

Women Business Leaders(F%T)(35.6, rank 14)

Women Tertiary Education
GER (F/M)(100.0, rank 1)

Entrepreneurial Supporting
Factors(72.9, rank 7)

Woman Professionals &Technical Workers (F%T)(50.5, rank 24)

Support for SMEs
(72.3, rank 5)

Quality of Governance(89.1, rank 8)

Woman Labor Force
Participation (F/M)(80.9, rank 24)

Woman Financial Inclusions(98.1, rank 11)

Ease of Doing Business(78.9, rank 14)

5.3
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201981

Strengths & Traits
Dynamic landscape underpins established business growth rates
Findings from the Survey of Entrepreneurship in Ireland 2017 by GEM point to a fairly vibrant and dynamic
entrepreneurial landscape. Every month in 2017, about 2,200 people started a new business in Ireland,
placing it in 9th place among 20 Markets in Europe. In terms of nascent entrepreneurs, Ireland is ranked 7th inEurope in 2017, with nearly 6 in every 100 people actively taking some steps towards starting a business but
remaining in employment. Ireland also shines in ‘Established Business Ownership Rate’ (8.6%), surpassing
the regional average of 5.1% and more than doubling the global average of 3.7%. This is probably
underpinned by the country’s robust entrepreneurial environment where ‘Support for SMEs’ is very strong(72.3, rank 5) and quality of governance is outstanding (89.1, rank 8).
Solo, Customer-Focused & Going Global
The majority of business startups are solo (64%) and oriented towards Consumer Services such as retail,restaurants, personal services and health & education (42%) and Extractive & Transformative (34%).
Of those surveyed, 68% expressed an intention to start a business within the next 5 years. There is also
a strong orientation towards international entrepreneurship with 72% reporting an overseas clientele(compared to an average of around 60% in most other European economies). Data also showed 1 in every
4 entrepreneurs being considered ‘Born Globals’, with more than 25% of their revenues derived from outside
the country. This outnumbers most peers in Europe such as Sweden, France, the UK, Germany and Spain.
Growing Trend in Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate
The latest 2018 data pointed to an increase in working women’s engagement in entrepreneurial activities
from the previous year (up from 6.2% to 7.5%), while that for men’s rose marginally from 11.7% to 11.9%,
effectively narrowing the entrepreneurial activity gender gap by 10%. In addition, an age profile revealed
that quite a sizeable proportion of the young cohort aged 18 to 24 expressing intentions to start a business(17%). This is likely fueled by the fact that the most people in society holds a high regard for successful
entrepreneurs (84% in Ireland compared to 70% across Europe), and success stories about entrepreneurs
are widely shared in the media (Ireland has highest rate in Europe in 2017).
Highly Innovative & Tech-Driven
Ireland also impresses with an exceptionally innovative entrepreneurial culture: 36% of those involved inearly-stage entrepreneurial activity indicated their products/services are new to some customers with few/
no businesses offering the same. This is notably higher than the global and regional averages of 26% and28%, respectively, and surpasses peers such as the UK, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and Poland.

5.3
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201982

High-Impact & Growth Mindset
GEM’s Survey results positioned Ireland highly in 4th place in Europe for “tech” entrepreneurship, withnearly 1 in every 9 entrepreneurs operating in “medium” or “high” technology sectors (11.4%, surpassing
Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK). The potential to contribute positively to theeconomy is high here, with many entrepreneurs expecting to grow their businesses: 2 in every 10 expected
to employ 10 or more, and to increase the number of jobs by 50% within the next 5 years. One in every 10
have exceptionally high growth expectations, intending to increase staffing by 20 or more within 5 years. In
this regard, Ireland outshines most of its European peers.
A correlation analysis of Ireland’s Women Business Ownership Rate (F%T) against the country’s
Unemployment Rate (%) from 2000 to 2018 revealed an interesting relationship. As shown in the diagram
above, nearly 70% of the time (R2 = 0.68), Women’s Business Ownership Rate moves in tandem with thejobless rate. This suggests that when the unemployment rate is rising or high, job prospects are poor, andwomen are less likely to open a business compared to men. Conversely, when labor market conditions arefavorable and job prospects are strong, women likely feel more ambitious and optimistic, and are more
driven and motivated to start a business than men.
Necessity-Driven Entrepreneurship
Compared to their regional peers, the percentage of necessity-driven entrepreneurship among Irish womenis slightly higher (19.3% of working age females engaged in entrepreneurial activity due to “no better
alternative” as opposed to pursuing a business opportunity). This is higher than peers such as Poland (5%),
Italy (11.3%), Sweden (1.3%), Denmark (5.0%), and Germany (15.9%).

5.3
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201983

Constraints
Although women’s enrollment in tertiary education exceeds that of men (82.1% compared to 74.4%), their
participation in the labor force still trails that of men (‘Women Labor Force Participation Rate – F/M ‘of80.9, rank 24). In addition, given the underlying enabling entrepreneurial and cultural supporting conditions,
Ireland’s Women Business Ownership Rate of 22.9% of total owners is lower than expected. The line of bestfit (MIWE Benchmark Trendline) suggests that the ideal women business ownership rate for Ireland could
potentially be around 35%. This could be attributed to various reasons, including:•Fear of Failure & Low Perception of Capabilities: Of the people that perceive opportunities for new
businesses in their local area, up to 4 in every 10 indicated that they will be deterred from starting abusiness due to fear of failure. In addition, just 1 in 2 believed they have the skills and knowledge to starta business (42%), lower than regional peers such as Poland, the UK, Spain, Netherlands and Greece andother innovation-driven economics such as the US, Canada and Australia.

•

Low Mentorship/Networking Circle: Compared to other European markets, Irish adults’ network ofentrepreneurs is fairly weak, with only 3 in 10 knowing a recent entrepreneur that they can look up
to as a “role model” or mentor. This is lower than most regional economies such as Poland, Sweden,
Switzerland, France, the UK and Spain, and global economies such as Australia, Canada and the US.

Impact of the Brexit
Looking ahead, with the UK expected to leave the EU on 1 August 2019, there are mounting uncertainties
pertaining to the outcome of the Brexit, and its impact on neighboring Markets, especially Ireland. A
comprehensive study conducted by Copenhagen Economics for the Department of Business, Enterprise andInnovation, Government of Ireland revealed some of the most significant impact on Ireland’s economic andcommercial landscape, and how these factors may propel or deter Irish women’s ability to thrive in socially,
economically and in the business world.xiv First, the uncertainties stemming from the Brexit may dampen
both consumers and business sentiment. For latent entrepreneurs who have intentions to start a business,
especially in retailing of goods overseas, they may hold back on taking new risks until there is more certainty.
Second, Ireland’s export industry is expected to be negatively affected by the Brexit, with sectors such as
pharma-chemicals, and wholesale & retail among the most adversely impacted. Given that most of Irish
entrepreneurial activities are oriented towards Consumer Services such as retail, restaurants, personal
services and health & education (42%), women entrepreneurs (latent and nascent) and establishedbusiness owners may face challenges, particularly if consumer demand drops. Third, there are predictions
that Brexit may impact Irish wages negatively for all skill groups with real wages down, depending on
the outcome of the EU-UK trade relationship post Brexit. The decline in salary may prompt individuals toembark on business ventures to boost income.

5.4
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019

84

D
New ZealandHelm of index

High income

Lower than
expected WomenBusiness OwnershipHighoverall index
score

Women in New Zealand continue to make astounding strides as business owners in a traditionally maledominated industry. They inspire other young, ambitious young women like themselves, and impart asignificant, positive impact on the business community.
Securing 2nd spot in the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs with a score of 70.2, New Zealandtrails only the US at 70.3. Although losing its top ranking for the first time in 2 years, New Zealand’s feat is
impressive, with very strong performances across all three Components in the MIWE. In fact, New Zealandis the only market among the 58 covered in the Index that ranked 1st in 4 sub-indicators: (i) Women Financial
Inclusion – F/M, (ii) Women Tertiary Education Gross Enrollment Rate – F/M, (iii) Ease of Doing Business,and (iv) Quality of Governance.
This admirable achievement is underpinned by supportive entrepreneurial conditions such as ease of doing
business and quality of governance, and high ease of access to financial services and products. Set against
a vibrant, advanced and open business environment, these highly enabling conditions play an instrumentalrole in promoting women’s role in society as business owners. Specifically, there are about 3 female businessowners in every 10 owners (31.8%, rank 5), a figure that surpasses most wealthy and innovation-driven
economies such as Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Canada and the UK.

5.4
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201985

New Zealand
Summary Findings
Benchmark
Women Business Owners- WBO Score :MIWE
Score :

31.8

70.2

(2018: Score 31.4, Rank 5)

Rank 5High
incomeHigh
WBO

Women’s
Advancement
Outcomes:(2018: Score 61.1,
Rank 4)

Rank 10(2018: Score 71.5, Rank 1)

High
MIWE

Component A

59.7

Rank 2Below Trendline

Component C

Component B

Knowledge Assets &Financial Access:Supporting Entrepreneurial
Conditions

77.8

78.6

(2018: Score 78.8,
Rank 7)

Rank 11(2018: Score 80.2,
Rank 2)

Rank 3

Women Business Leaders(F%T)(41.3, rank 3)

Women Tertiary Education
GER (F/M)(100.0, rank 1)

Quality of Governance(98.4, rank 1)

Woman Professionals &Technical Workers (F%T)(56.8, rank 7)

Woman Financial Inclusions(100.0, rank 1)

Ease of Doing Business(86.6, rank 1)

Woman Labor Force
Participation (F/M)(85.4, rank 11)

Support for SMEs
(62.6, rank 16)

Entrepreneurial Supporting
Factors(72.5, rank 9)

5.4
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201986

Women’s ability to rise in the business world, in their careers, and in the political arena isreflected in the high proportion of female as business leaders (4 in every 10 leaders, 41.3%, rank
3) and professionals and technicians (nearly 6 in every 10, 56.8%, rank 7). This suggests thatwomen have nearly equal opportunities as men in assuming higher managerial and leadershiproles. Over the last 12 months, there has also been an increase in the proportion of women
engaged in political roles (up from 31.4% in both 2016 and 2017 to 34.2% in 2018). This may be
spurred by the positive influence imparted by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on women in politics.
It should be noted that although there is a wide gender gap reflected in the ‘Women
Entrepreneurial Activity Rate - F/M’ (63.5, rank 33), the proportion of women engaged in earlystage entrepreneurial activities (13.7%) is actually higher than most advanced and wealthy
economies such as Australia (9.2%), Hong Kong SAR (5.0%), France (5.3%), Sweden (4.0%), theUK (5.4%) and Italy (2.8%). Furthermore, this rate has been increasing steadily from 10.0% in
2016, to 12.1% in 2017, and again to 13.7% in 2018.

Component A:
Women’s Advancement Outcomes

2018
Score,(Rank)

2019
Score,(Rank)

Women Business Leaders (F%T)

41.0 (5)41.3 (3)

Women Professionals & Technical Workers(F%T)

56.6 (9)56.8 (7)

Women Labor Force Participation (F/M)

85.3 (11)85.4 (11)

Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate (F/M)

70.2 (24)63.5 (33)Comments••

All sub-indicators in Component A (except
Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate)
improved since the last iteration with little
gender disparity observed
Gender gap in Entrepreneurial Activity Rate
due to a greater increase in men’s activity
rate than women

Component B: Knowledge Assets & Financial Access
Women Tertiary Education GER (F/M)

100.0 (1)100.0 (1)

Women Financial Inclusion (F/M)

100.0 (1)100.0 (1)•

Women have equal opportunities to gain
higher level education and financial services& products•

Women& Men have equal access to financial
services by law & custom
Fairly developed physical infrastructure to
support new & growing business
Availability & effectiveness of government
program support is only fair & below other
innovative-driven markets such as Hong Kong
SAR, Singapore, Switzerland, Ireland & UAE•
Support for SMEs

Women Borrowing/Saving for Business (F/M)

62.2 (26)62.1 (24)62.6 (16)••

Women are considerably less likely than men
to save for a business compared to othermarkets such as South Korea, Czech Republic,
Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Israel, UAE, Canada& the US58.6 (34)Component C: Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions
Ease of Doing Business86.6 (1)86.6 (1)•Highly efficient procedures for business startups

Quality of Governance98.8 (1)98.4 (1)•

Effective regulatory policies, little corruption &political stability

Entrepreneurial Supporting Factors

76.2 (6)72.5 (9)•••Society is receptive of entrepreneurial failure
Relatively easy to find skilled employees
Little market entry barriers for new
businesses•
Cultural Perceptions of Entrepreneurs

63.4 (16)61.6 (18)Society encourages creativity &innovativeness; but has less regard for
personal effort & initiative, risk taking andindividuality

Table: Enablers & Constraints - New Zealand Women in Business5.4
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201987

Strengths
World-Class Quality of Governance & Ease of Doing BusinessIn New Zealand, one of the most outstanding underlying conditions that underpins women’s ability to thrivein business is the country’s world-class ‘Quality of Governance’ (100.0, rank 1) and exceptionally high ‘Easeof Doing Business’ (86.6, rank 1). Women seeking to start a business here benefit from a highly efficientbusiness regulation environment backed up by best practices, effective public services and political stability.
Women aspiring to start a business are not constrained or hindered by cumbersome or restrictive market
entry regulations.
Low Fear of Failure
Compared to their global peers, adults in New Zealand are considerably less fearful of failing in business(22% compared to regional average of 36%, 42% for Canada, 39% for Ireland and 35% for the US). Dataalso showed that society is fairly receptive of entrepreneurial failure and risk-taking.
Flair for Innovation & Creativity
Successful women entrepreneurs are often celebrated and praised by social media in New Zealand,
especially those who have made significant strides in their respective fields and niches such as banking& finance, restaurant & catering, lifestyle & nutrition, online learning to bring financial literacy to young
people, training & employment opportunities for disabled people, and many more. These women not only
demonstrate flair in creativity, innovation and design, but take the plunge in trying out new gigs, using
selling platforms such as pop-up food trucks, and assuming new roles such as food tech entrepreneurs in the
country’s fast-rising high-skilled green industry.xv These examples demonstrate that women entrepreneurs
in New Zealand are driven by a sheer determination to make a difference, take up new challenges, tap
opportunistic niche markets, and make their own mark in business world.
High Perception of Business Opportunities
Although there is a clear gender gap in entrepreneurial activity rate (63.5 female entrepreneurs for every
100 male entrepreneurs, rank 33), the results point to a very high ‘Perception of Opportunities Rate’ among
women. For instance, nearly 9 out of every 10 business activities are opportunity-driven (as opposed tonecessity-driven), a very favorable figure compared to other high-income, developed economies such as
South Korea (77.8%), Japan (62.8%), France (66.9%), Germany (69.7%) and Belgium (44.6%).

Constraints
The results of MIWE 2019 continue to underscore shortcomings in terms of ‘Cultural Perceptions of
Entrepreneurs’ (down from 63.4 the previous year to 61.6), weighed down by a decline in society’s regard for
entrepreneurial risk-taking, creativity & innovativeness, and personal initiative. Women’s ability to thrive inthe business world, especially when it comes to growing the business, are also likely to be held back by thelack of skilled employees (62.8, rank 32).

5.5
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201988

E
Switzerland
Helm of index

High income

Lower than
expected WomenBusiness OwnershipHighoverall index
score

Switzerland’s Women Entrepreneurial Landscape is one of the most favorable among the 58 markets withan overall MIWE score and ranking of 65.8 (rank 7), dipping slightly from the previous year’s score of 66.2
(rank 8). Women’s Business Ownership (F%T) was the same at 26.6% (rank 21). Of the 3 components,
Switzerland shines with exceptionally conducive and enabling entrepreneurial supporting conditions,
including: (i) ‘Quality of Governance’ (96.8, rank 2), (ii) ‘Entrepreneurial Supporting Factors’ (77.1, rank 2), and(iii) ‘Cultural Perceptions of Entrepreneurs’ (65.3, rank 8).
Women in Switzerland compare very favorably with their global peers in terms of attainment of knowledge
assets. The degree of support rendered to SMEs based on adequacy of physical infrastructure, government
program support, new business market entry and access to financial services is also among the best (73.8,
rank 4). Specifically, the presence of and access to physical resources such as communication, utilities, landand space are affordable and not discriminatory of new, small or growing businesses – a reputation earned
by the country for many consecutive years.
Rated as the 4th most competitive country in the world among 140 Markets by the Global Competitiveness
Report 2018, Switzerland ranks very highly in many of the competitiveness performance indices: finance,
infrastructure, innovation, macroeconomic stability, skills, labor market and business dynamism. xvi,xvii

5.5Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201989

Switzerland
Summary Findings
Benchmark
Women Business Owners- WBO Score :MIWE
Score :

26.6

65.8

(2018: Score 26.6, Rank 21)

Rank 21High
incomeHigh
WBO

Women’s
Advancement
Outcomes:(2018: Score 61.8,
Rank 33)

Rank 35(2018: Score 66.2, Rank 8)

High
MIWE

Ccomponent A

50.5

Rank 7

Below Trendline

Component C

Component B

Knowledge Assets &Financial Access:Supporting Entrepreneurial
Conditions

79.1

78.0

(2018: Score 77.0,
Rank 17)

Rank 7(2018: Score 79.1,
Rank 4)

Rank 4

Woman Labor Force
Participation (F/M)(84.5, rank 14)

Women Tertiary Education
GER (F/M)(100.0, rank 1)

Quality of Governance(96.8, rank 2)

Women Business Leaders(F%T)(34.0, rank 20)

Support for SMEs
(73.8, rank 4)

Entrepreneurial Supporting
Factors(77.1, rank 2)

Woman Professionals &Technical Workers (F%T)(48.2, rank 33)

Woman Financial Inclusions(95.5, rank 15)

Cultural Perceptions of
Entrepreneurs(65.3, rank 8)

5.5
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201990

Switzerland’s Entrepreneurial Framework Conditions
Making a Mark as Leaders & Workforce Participants
Women here have also made considerable inroads as business leaders, accounting for around
one-third of all business leaders in the country (34.0%, rank 20). They are also making valuable
contribution to the economy as active labor force participants (84.5 females for every 100
males, rank 14). Based on the latest GEM data, there has been a considerable jump in women’s
opportunity-driven entrepreneurship (up from 69.0% in 2017 to 86.4% in 2018, putting themnearly at par with males at 87.4%).
High Established Business Ownership
The Established Business Ownership Rate in Switzerland is high with 10.5% of the population
aged 18 to 64 being a current owner-manager of an established business that has paid salaries,
wages, or made any other payments to the owners for more than 3 ½ years. This rate is higher
than the average of 6.8% in innovation-driven economies, and regional peers such as Germany(6.1%), France (3.6%), Spain (7.1%) and Italy (6.0%).
The percentage of Discontinued Businesses in Switzerland is very low (1.1%) compared to otheradvanced economies such as Canada (6.9%), Israel (4.8%), Ireland (3.3%) and Australia (3.8%). Thisis a positive development and points to competence in sustaining businesses growth momentum.
The Job Creation Expectation Rate among Swiss entrepreneurs also compares well with nearly
one-third voicing plans to expand their business by creating 6 or more jobs in the next 5 years(29% in 2018 compared to global and regional averages of 21% and 20%, respectively). Thishighlights a positive entrepreneurial dynamism in terms of job creation.
Ambitious & Motivated, Internationally Focused
Most entrepreneurs tend to be ambitious and are greatly driven by opportunities that will
advance their income and financial position (67.5% compared to 53.5% average among
innovation-driven economies).
Education and R&D Transfer
Post-secondary education in colleges, universities and professional education offers adequate
preparation for starting up and growing new firms. The country’s research and development
sector is outstanding and has paved the way to many new commercial opportunities.xviii

5.5
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019

Component A:
Women’s Advancement Outcomes

2018
Score,(Rank)

2019
Score,(Rank)

Women Business Leaders (F%T)

34.0 (20)34.0 (20)•

Women Professionals & Technical
Workers (F%T)

48.0 (34)48.2 (33)•

Women Labor Force Participation(F/M)

84.2 (14)84.5 (14)

Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate
(F/M)

52.3 (46)47.0 (52)91

Comments•

Little change observed in women progress as
business leaders, professionals/technicians &labor force participantsRole as leaders & professionals lower than
expected despite high education attainment
Gender gap in Entrepreneurial Activity Ratewidened notably due to a pullback in women’s
entrepreneurial activity rate

Component B: Knowledge Assets & Financial Access
Women Tertiary Education GER (F/M)

100.0 (1)100.0 (1)

Women Financial Inclusion (F/M)

94.8 (15)95.5 (15)••••Support for SMEs

78.3 (2)73.8 (4)

Women Borrowing/Saving for Business(F/M)

47.2 (44)55.7 (40)•

Women have equal opportunities to gain higher
level education and fair access to financial
services & products
However, there is still a lack of venture capital,
debt finance and funding through IPOs for highgrowth firms
Women & men have equal access to financial
services by law & custom
Highly developed physical infrastructure to
support new & growing business
Availability & effectiveness of government
program support is higher than most other
innovative-driven markets such as Australia,
New Zealand, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain &Sweden.

•Slight narrowing in gender gap but womenremain considerably less likely than men to savefor a business although the number has been
rising gradually in recent years•

Highly effective regulations, policies and systems
in place, minimal corruption, political conditions
are stable•••

Society is receptive of entrepreneurial failure
Relatively easy to find skilled employees
Few market entry barriers for new businesses•

Slight pullback in cultural perception ofentrepreneurial qualities such as personal
initiative, risk taking, creativity & innovativeness,and independence•

Business regulation environment and bestpractices are acceptable but lower than the
average in high-income, developed markets

Component C: Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions

Quality of Governance97.1 (2)96.8 (2)Entrepreneurial Supporting Factors

77.1 (2)77.1 (2)Cultural Perceptions of Entrepreneurs

69.1 (5)65.3 (8)Ease of Doing Business75.7 (23)75.7 (23)Table: Enablers & Constraints - Swiss Women in Business5.5
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201992

Constraints
The results point to a severe gender gap in Women’s Entrepreneurial Activity Rate- F/M (47.0 and rank 52,
retreating from the previous year’s ratio of 52.3, rank 46). This means that out of the working age female
population, only 4.7% have just started an entrepreneurial activity or has started one for less than 3.5 years.
This compares very poorly with other innovation-driven markets such as Chile, Uruguay, Canada, the US,
New Zealand, South Korea, Israel and the UAE where at least 10% of the working age females are engaged
in entrepreneurial activities. There are various reasons for the low entrepreneurial rate:•

Very Low Entrepreneurial Intentions Rate: On average, the Swiss express very low intention tostart a business within the next 3 years (10.5% compared to 15.2% on average in innovation-driven
economies)•

Low Perception of Entrepreneurship as a Good Career Choice: Although most of the adult
population confers high regard to successful entrepreneurs (70%), less than half perceive
entrepreneurship to be a good career choice (53% compared to 57% on average in innovationdriven economies).

•

High Fear of Failure: The proportion of adults who noted they will be deterred by failure in business(40%) is similar to other developed markets such as Ireland (39%), higher than the US (35%) andlower than Canada at (42%).

•

Low Perception of Capabilities: Most of the adult population are unsure of their entrepreneurial
abilities due to a lack of self-confidence or unwillingness to leave the comfort zone or security of
being an employee.

•

The Swiss culture is not as encouraging or receptive of entrepreneurial risk-taking compared toother western European Markets, and other developed economies such as the US.xix This is reflectedin the low social media attention extended to entrepreneurship (lower than most Markets such as
Spain, Sweden, South Korea, Italy, Israel, Ireland, France, Canada & Australia).

High Salaries
The low inclination towards entrepreneurship may also be affected by the fact that the Swiss workforce
is one of the most well-paid in the world. Data from OECD (2017) showed Switzerland having the second
highest average wage (nominal USD 88,159) in Europe trailing only Luxembourg.xx The work/life balance
here is fairly good. According to OECD’s Better Life Survey, the share of employees in Switzerland working
very long hours is lower than the OECD average. Swiss cities are regularly ranked as having among the best
quality of life in the world.xxi,xxii However, there is still a significant gender pay gap with female employees
earning 19.3% less than their male colleagues according to recent Eurostat figures.

The Way Ahead
In order to boost Switzerland’s Women Business Ownership and Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate, more
support or initiatives need to be rendered for early stage funding (seed and venture capital). In addition,
bureaucratic procedures associated with founding new ventures and taxation policies need to be eased.xxiii

5.6
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201993

F
Singapore
Helm of index

High income

Healthy WomenBusiness OwnershipHighoverall index
score

Singapore continues to be ideally positioned on the global scale for women entrepreneurs to set up shop.
Although pulling back 5 spots from MIWE 2019 to rank 8 (score down from 68.0 to 65.6), the island-state’s
support for SME remains second to none. Its overall admirable index performance is driven by excellencein the education, financial, physical and legal infrastructure. Women entrepreneurs here face few barriers
when doing business (‘Ease of Doing Business’ 85.2, rank 2) and benefit from very conducive ‘Entrepreneurial
Supporting Factors’ 74.5, rank 5).

5.6
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201994

Singapore
Summary Findings
Benchmark
Women Business Owners- WBO Score :MIWE
Score :

26.3

65.6

(2018: Score 26.5, Rank 23)

Rank 24High
incomeHigh
WBO

Women’s
Advancement
Outcomes:(2018: Score (52.0,
Rank 32)

Rank 42(2018: Score 68.0, Rank 3)

High
MIWE

Ccomponent A

49.0

Rank 8Below Trendline

Component C

Component B

Knowledge Assets &Financial Access:Supporting Entrepreneurial
Conditions

82.5

77.0

(2018: Score 85.0,
Rank 1)

Rank 2(2018: Score 77.7,
Rank 5)

Rank 6

Women Business Leaders(F%T)(32.9, rank 26)

Women Tertiary Education
GER (F/M)(100.0, rank 1)

Ease of Doing Business(85.2, rank 2)

Woman Labor Force
Participation (F/M)(79.3, rank 27)

Support for SMEs
(80.2, rank 1)

Entrepreneurial Supporting
Factors(74.5, rank 5)

Woman Professionals &Technical Workers (F%T)(45.7, rank 38)

Woman Financial Inclusions(98.7, rank 9)

Quality of Governance(87.4, rank 10)

5.6
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201995

The Entrepreneurial Framework: The Enabling Factors
With a world-class education system and strong support from government programs, entrepreneurs canreadily find skilled employees to meet their business needs. Social and cultural norms are fairly receptive
and encouraging of entrepreneurship, especially when individuality, self-sufficiency and autonomy, andpersonal effort are demonstrated. The underlying supportive infrastructures here are also reinforcedby excellent governance, highly stable political conditions, and very effective and efficient rule of law– conditions that are instrumental in driving women’s inroad into the business world. Furthermore,
the government renders a lot of support in the form of grants, co-working spaces, and a network ofinternational investors.
According to Dell’s 2017 Women Entrepreneur Cities Index (WE Cities) report, Singapore is home to someof the youngest business founders in the world. These young cohort demonstrate impressive talents,
competence and drive across a wide spectrum of fields including data science, digital marketing, artificial
intelligence (AI), investment banking, fashion, restaurant and online financial solutions provider. Thesebusiness ventures usually incorporate a high degree of hi-tech creativity and innovation, such as leveraging
AI into products and services. xxiv

Support Programs & Funding Schemes
The business start-up culture in Singapore is popular and widespread, gradually replacing the previous
trend of seeking jobs in multinational companies. This is partly driven by the large contribution from thegovernment’s funds and grants such as incubator schemes that are geared towards helping budding
entrepreneurs in the country. Apart from financial aid, these support programs, such as the Incubator
Development Program (IDP) are crucial in providing mentoring and networking opportunities for nascentbusiness owners. The advent of Crowdfunding platforms in Singapore has allowed loans to be extended to
SMEs that may not otherwise qualify for traditional bank loans. These new platforms have less stringent
financial and operation requirements, although the interest rates may be more costly due to the higher
degree of risks undertaken by the investors.xxv
Other schemes include: xxvi•

The Interactive Digital Media (IDM) Jump-start and Mentor (i.JAM) administered by MediaDevelopment Authority that is focused on encouraging innovation and nurturing start-up
entrepreneurship in interactive digital media.

•

The NRF Technology Incubation Scheme (TIS), an initiative of National Research Foundation thatco-invests up to 85% with a cap of S$500,000 per company and provides guidance and mentoringfor start-ups.

•

Fast-Track Environmental and Water Technologies Incubator Scheme (Fast-Tech), an incubator grantsupported by Environment and Water Industry Board Office designed to help start-ups co-sharethe cost and risk of commercialization of new environmental and water technologies.

5.6
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019

Component A:
Women’s Advancement Outcomes

2018
Score,(Rank)

2019
Score,(Rank)

Women Business Leaders (F%T)

32.7 (26)32.9 (26)

Women Labor Force Participation(F/M)

79.3 (27)79.3 (27)

Women Professionals & Technical
Workers (F%T)

45.6 (38)45.7 (38)

Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate
(F/M)

61.9 (38)48.3 (51)96Comments••••

Little change observed in women progress as
business leaders, professionals/technicians &labor force participantsRole as leaders & professionals low despite highknowledge assets
Gender gap in Entrepreneurial Activity Ratewidened from 2018 to 2019 due to a pullback
in women’s entrepreneurial activity rate and anincrease in men’s
Women’s inclination towards entrepreneurshipfell notably despite strong government support& schemes; may be dragged by slowdown ineconomy, downbeat business confidence, andhigh borrowing & operating costs

Component B: Knowledge Assets & Financial Access
Women Tertiary Education GER (F/M)

100.0 (1)100.0 (1)Support for SMEs

80.8 (1)80.2 (1)

Women Financial Inclusion (F/M)

98.3 (11)98.7 (9)Women Borrowing/Saving for
Business (F/M)

65.7 (28)58.6 (33)•

Women have equal opportunities to gain higher
level education and fair access to financial
services & products
Highly developed education, legal, financial &physical infrastructure & government support
programs and schemes to support new andgrowing businesses•

Women have high access to financial services by
law & custom•

Widening in gender gap, women considerably
less likely than men to borrow or save for abusiness•

Component C: Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions
Ease of Doing Business85.0 (2)85.2 (2)•World-class business regulation & best practices

Entrepreneurial Supporting Factors

76.5 (5)74.5 (5)•••Society is receptive of entrepreneurial failure
Large pool of skilled resources
Little market entry barriers for new businesses

Quality of Governance87.4 (9)87.4 (10)•Highly effective regulations, policies and systems
in place, minimal corruption, stable politicalconditions

Cultural Perceptions of Entrepreneurs

64.3 (13)63.3 (15)•

Cultural norms are receptive of entrepreneurial
qualities such as personal initiative, risk taking,creativity & innovativeness, and independence

Table: Enablers & Constraints - Singaporean Women in Business5.6
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201997

The Constraints: What is holding women back in business?
Despite the lively entrepreneurial scene in Singapore set against world-class infrastructures and systems,
the percentage of women business owners remains low with only 1 in every 4 businesses being led by afemale (26.3, rank 23, broadly unchanged from previous year). Women’s Entrepreneurial Activity Ratecompared to men is also low, with only 7.2 female entrepreneurs for every 14.8 male entrepreneurs (F/M
ratio of 48.3, rank 51). The gender gap has also widened from 61.9 (rank 38) to 48.3 (rank 51), placing
Singapore among the lowest in the MIWE study. There are various reasons that may be holding womenback from engaging in entrepreneurial activities or starting a business.
Risk Taking
In general, when it comes to taking business risks, the national culture is slightly less amenable whencompared to most other advanced, neighboring economies such as Hong Kong SAR, New Zealand,
Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and global peers such as the US, Canada, Israel andthe UAE. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor’s data for Singapore showed that on average, adults here are
more apprehensive about failing in business (39%) compared their global and regional peers (34% and 37%,
respectively).
Low Perception of Opportunities & Capabilities
Another reason why women’s inclination towards entrepreneurship is low could be due to the low perceptionof opportunities among the adult population: 17%, 2.5 times lower than the global average of 43%, and 2
times lower than the average among Asia Pacific markets at 37%. The average adult is also notably lessconfident in setting up a business due to a perceived lack of skills and knowledge: Perceived Capabilities
Rate of 21% compared to the global and regional averages of 51% and 44%. Such low perception may be
attributed to the highly competitive business environment in Singapore.
Low Entrepreneurial Intentions Rate
The rate of entrepreneurial intentions in Singapore is very low at around 9.4% compared to global andregional averages of around 20%, respectively. xxvii
Sluggish Economic Growth & Downbeat Business Sentiment
The motivation or drive to start new businesses may be dampened by sluggish economic growth
performance, muted business sentiment and overall concern over uncertainties stemming from theslowdown in global electronics and tech demand, impact of the US-China trade dispute, and rising interest
rate environment.
High Costs of Business Setup
One of the biggest barriers to starting a business is the high cost associated with seeking professional
advice, legal and insurance fees, rental and operation, communication and transport, equipment upgrade,working capital requirement, product/service expansion, among others. Those seeking a business loan
may be deterred by the credit criteria and procedures associated. Although there are new crowdfunding
platforms that offer loans with less stringent financial and operation criteria, the borrowing costs are often
higher, making it less affordable for those looking to start a business.

5.6
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 201998

Gender Inequality
The results show Singaporean women to be under-represented not only as business owners, but in thecorporate world as business leaders, professionals/technical workers and labor force participants aswell. For example, women account for only one-third (32.9%, rank 26) of all leaders, less than half of all
professionals/technical workers (45.7%, rank 38), and less than 80% of the labor force compared to men(F/M 79.3%, rank 27). The imbalance in these regards may instill an underlying belief or acceptance thatwomen are not business savvy or capable of assuming higher position in society as men, thus discouraging
females from pursuing entrepreneurship.

The Way Forward
According to findings from McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), reducing gender inequality in Singapore byincreasing the number of hours worked by women and their participation in higher-productivity sectors cancontribute an astronomical S$26 billion to the country’s GDP by 2025. The results revealed that womenare marginalized or under-represented when it comes to full-time work and working in sectors where they
can command higher pay and improve their economic prospects. Women tend to be more inclined to work
part-time and are less likely to work when they are married due to restrictions associated with child-rearing
responsibilities and the lack of flexible workforce policies. Women are also more likely to be working inlower-paying and lower-productivity roles that are most prone to being displaced by automation, and least
represented in high-growth sectors such as information and communications where the female-to-maleratio is 0.63. McKinsey’s study called for investments to be made to help shift current attitudes towards
the role of women in society and in the workplace using platforms such as public awareness campaigns tofoster deeper recognition and forums for corporate leaders to share best practices on gender equality. xxviii

5.7
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019

99

G
United Kingdom
Helm of index

High income

Healthy WomenBusiness OwnershipHighoverall index
score

With more than 5.4 million SMEs trading across one of the most matured, modern and innovative markets
in the world, British women’s role as entrepreneurs remains surprising low compared to their malecounterparts and neighboring peers. The latest data showed the female to male entrepreneurial activity
ratio remaining at half, with only 5.4 female entrepreneurs for every 11.1 male, despite there being one
million more women in the UK than men. This ratio trails most neighboring high-income and innovationdriven economies in Europe such as Italy, Ireland, France, Denmark, Germany, and Australia, Hong Kong SAR,
Japan, South Korea in Asia Pacific, and the US and Canada from North America.
Meanwhile, business ownership rates reflect similar disparity, with women accounting for around onequarter (27.9%, rank 16) of all business owners in the country. This is broadly unchanged from the previous
years’ figure, suggesting stagnant progress in the business world despite performing strongly across all 3
Components in the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs 2019 report. On the Matrix graph, the UK
remains below the MIWE – Benchmark Trendline/Line of Best Fit, suggesting underperformance.

5.7
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019 100

United Kingdom
Summary Findings
Benchmark
Women Business Owners- WBO Score :MIWE
Score :

27.9

65.6

(2018: Score 27.8, Rank 17)

Rank 16High
incomeHigh
WBO

Women’s
Advancement
Outcomes:(2018: Score (51.2,
Rank 34)

Rank 34(2018: Score 65.1, Rank 13)

High
MIWE

Ccomponent A

52.0

Rank 9Below Trendline

Component C

Component B

Knowledge Assets &Financial Access:Supporting Entrepreneurial
Conditions

78.2

74.9

(2018: Score 78.4,
Rank 10)

Rank 2(2018: Score 74.6,
Rank 10)

Rank 8

Women Business Leaders(F%T)(35.9, rank 13)

Women Tertiary Education
GER (F/M)(100.0, rank 1)

Ease of Doing Business(74.8, rank 4)

Woman Labor Force
Participation (F/M)(84.3, rank 15)

Woman Financial Inclusions(99.7, rank 6)

Entrepreneurial Supporting
Factors(82.7, rank 7)

Woman Professionals &Technical Workers (F%T)(49.6, rank 27)

Support for SMEs
(60.2, rank 22)

Quality of Governance(85.9, rank 11)

5.7
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019 101

There is also a notable increase in necessity-driven entrepreneurship among women since the previous year,
up 2.5 times from 6.6% to 16.6%, while that for men dropped from 16.8% to 11.1%. In contrast, women’s
engagement in opportunity-driven entrepreneurship dropped from 84.7% to 81.0%, while that for men rosefrom 81.0% to 85.7%. This suggests that women perceived slightly less startup opportunities in the local area
they live in compared to the previous year and are engaging in more entrepreneurial activity out of necessity.
A breakdown of Component A: Women’s Advancement Outcomes (52.0, rank 34) showed that women’sshare of business leadership is fairly acceptable at 35.9% (rank 13, unchanged from the previous year),and above the average among high-income, developed economies. Although women’s enrollment rate for
tertiary education is higher than men (68.8% vs 50.6%), women’s share of the workforce continues to trailthat of men (57.1% vs 67.8%). Women also account for less than half of the employees in professional or
technical positions (49.6%, rank 27).
In terms of Component B: Knowledge Assets & Financial Access, women are positioned quite favorablywith a score of 78.2 and ranking of 9, mostly unchanged from the previous update. In terms of access tofinancial services such as opening a bank account, and owning credit and/or debit cards (99.7, rank 6), themargin segregating men and women is negligible. ‘Support for SMEs’ remain lower than the average amongdeveloped and high-income economies (60.2, rank 22), weighed down by a lack of government programsupport (41.3, rank 39) and single government agency that oversees new business (38.5, rank 33).
Meanwhile, women in the UK stand to benefit from fairly strong and stable Supporting Entrepreneurial
Conditions (Component C, 74.9, rank 8), especially with regards to ‘Ease of Finding Skilled Employees’ (73.6,
rank 6), ‘Intellectual Property Protection’ (86.6, rank 3), and ‘Attitude towards Entrepreneurial Failure’ (73.0,
rank 5). The UK is also positioned favorably in terms of ‘Ease of Doing Business’ (82.7, rank 7) and ‘Quality ofGovernance’ (85.9, rank 11) in terms of best practices and control of corruption.

Grants for Business
At present, there are various grant types in the UK for women entrepreneurs or ‘mumpreneurs’ (mothers
who wish to be entrepreneurs). These grants include funding for business investment, research anddevelopment, business solutions and training & skills development. However, the eligibility of some grants
is dependent on the areas where one resides in and tends to be restrictive in some regards. For example,
the chances of qualifying for a grant increases if the applicant lives in a ‘socially deprived area or an area
where unemployment is quite high’, or if the business brings out some socially benefiting product or service.
Another stumbling block is that for most women business grants, there is a requirement of at least 250
employees in the payroll to qualify, effectively displacing those who wish to go solo or operate on a small
scale. Furthermore, to be considered worthy of a grant, each application has to be closely assessed andscrutinized with stringent requirements. xxix, xxx

Mental Barriers That are Hampering Entrepreneurial Women fromSecuring the Backing They Need
Although women in the UK are much more empowered in many respects and the social and corporatemindsets have changed notably overtime to become much more receptive and encouraging of women inbusiness, there are still some barriers that are holding women back from unleashing their full potential.xxxi
For instance, The Entrepreneurs Network found just 9% of funding for UK startups are being awarded to
women-led businesses in the UK annually.

5.7
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019 102

Data also showed that men are 86% more likely to be funded by venture capital and 56% more likely
to secure angel investment than women (Entrepreneurs Network and Beauhurst). A new study by theFederation of Small Businesses revealed that around 25% of female small business owners found it
challenging to obtain funding via traditional channels, with many resorting to alternative options suchas crowdfunding, personal cash and credit to expand their businesses. Research also showed women
entrepreneurs having lower loan approval rates than men on average and are charged higher interest rates.
Estimates from Deloitte showed that targeted help for nascent female entrepreneurs could help boost the
UK economy by £100 billion over the next 10 years. xxxii
Other barriers include: xxxiiii•

Self-Doubt: Some women still feel that the corporate world is a domain mostly for males, giventhat most top managerial positions are held by men. This belief is deeply ingrained in the mindset ofsociety despite women being equally capable and talented as men.

•

Low-Self Confidence: Because some women are skeptical about what they can achieve, they are in
doubt about whether they are capable of managing a business, leading a team, making financial
decisions, and executing policies. This is reflected in the GEM UK 2018 results which showed‘Perceived Capabilities Rate’ among the adult population (46.6%) to be slightly lower than the global
average (49.2%).

•

Fear of Failure: In general, around two-fifths of the adult population are deterred from starting abusiness due to fear of failing (37.7%, 2018).

•

Lack of Finance: Although there are stringent requirements to qualify for business grants, some
women might be discouraged by the fact that their business plan or strategy is not good enoughor profitable to be eligible. Data from Global Findex revealed that only 1.6% of females borrowed
funds to start, operate or expand a business compared to 3.7% for their male counterparts. This islower than regional peers such as Switzerland (4.0%), Spain (3.0%), Ireland (2.5%), France (2.8%),
and other high-income economies such as South Korea (3.4%), Saudi Arabia (4.1%), and UAE(3.1%). The challenges in securing funds for expansion or operation may be one of the reasons why
UK’s ‘Established Business Ownership Rate’ (6.4%)is lower than the global and regional figures of
8.4% and 7.1%, respectively.

•

Cultural Barriers: Another constraint that is holding back women’s ability to thrive in theentrepreneurial landscape is cultural barriers, with women not receiving adequate support orencouragement as entrepreneurs. Research findings by Unilever Foundry showed British womenbusiness owners reporting gender stereotyping and a lack of female role models in business assome of the key hindrances commonly encountered. This is echoed in the GEM Country Report for
UK 2017 which showed that only around one-quarter of females in 2017 personally knew someone
who has started a business in the last 2 years. xxxiv•

Low Entrepreneurial Intentions Rate: The latest GEM 2018 figures showed entrepreneurial
intentions rate among the adult population in UK to be significantly lower than the global andregional averages (7.2% for UK compared to 23.7% globally and 10.7% regionally).

5.7
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019 103

Component A:
Women’s Advancement Outcomes

2018
Score,(Rank)

2019
Score,(Rank)

Women Business Leaders (F%T)

35.9 (13)35.9 (13)

Women Labor Force Participation(F/M)

84.1 (15)84.3 (15)

Women Professionals & Technical
Workers (F%T)

49.6 (27)49.6 (27)

Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate
(F/M)

Comments••••

46.1 (48)48.6 (50)

Little change observed in women progress as
business leaders, professionals/technicians &labor force participantsRole as leaders & professionals low despite highknowledge assets
Gender gap in Entrepreneurial Activity Rate very
pronounced
Women’s inclination towards entrepreneurshiplow despite strong government support &schemes; deterred by fear of failure, low selfconfidence and lack of funding

Component B: Knowledge Assets & Financial Access
Women Tertiary Education GER (F/M)

100.0 (1)100.0 (1)

Women Financial Inclusion (F/M)

98.8 (8)99.7 (6)Support for SMEs

62.5 (25)60.2 (22)

Women Borrowing/Saving for Business(F/M)

61.1 (27)62.3 (26)••

Women have equal opportunities to gain higher
level education and equal access to financial
services & products
Availability of government support programs
less than most advanced economies•

Women are considerably less likely than men toborrow or save for a business; likely discouraged
due to difficulty in getting loans

Component C: Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions
Entrepreneurial Supporting Factors

76.5 (4)74.8 (4)••Society is receptive of entrepreneurial failure
Large pool of skilled resources

Ease of Doing Business82.3 (7)82.7 (7)•

Efficient & effective business regulation andbest practices

Quality of Governance86.8 (11)85.9 (11)•Highly effective regulations, policies and systems
in place, minimal corruption, stable politicalconditions•

Cultural norms are fairly receptive ofentrepreneurial qualities such as personal
initiative, risk taking, creativity & innovativenessSlight improvement from previous publication in
cultural perception of personal effort, risk taking
and creativity

Cultural Perceptions of Entrepreneurs

56.7 (38)Table: Enablers & Constraints - UK Women in Business59.4 (24)•5.8Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019 104

H
SwedenHelm of index

High income

Healthy WomenBusiness OwnershipHighoverall index
score

The latest MIWE 2019 results suggest the Swedish entrepreneurial ecosystem to be less favorable since
the last publication, retreating notably by 19 places from 6th to 25th. The overall index score shed -6.8% from66.5 to 62.0, the biggest percentage drop among the 58 markets. This was mainly attributed to a pullbackin scores across all 3 components, with Component A: Women’s Advancement Outcomes declining themost by -10.0% from 58.6 to 52.7, a massive drop in ranking of 20 places. This was mostly due to a sharp
widening in gender gap in ‘Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate’ – F/M from 64.8 (rank 36) to 42.1 (rank 53).
This means that there are on average more than twice as many male entrepreneurs as females (9.5 males
vs 4.0 females).
Component B’s decline of -5.5% in Knowledge Assets & Financial Access arose due to a deterioration in‘Support for SMEs’ (down from 65.1 rank 19 to 59.2 rank 27) and ‘Women Borrowing/Saving for Business– F/M’ (30.3, lowest at rank 58). Likewise, the score for Component C: Supporting Entrepreneurial
Conditions also retreated, although by a smaller degree (-3.6% from 76.8 rank 7 to 74.0 rank 11) as cultural
perceptions of entrepreneurs became less favorable.
On a positive note, Swedish women are making a firm standing in the leadership field, comprising nearly
40% of all leaders in the country (39.1%, rank 8). They also account for more than half of the professional
and technician positions in the workplace (51.8% of total, rank 19).

5.8
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019 105

SwedenSummary Findings
Benchmark
Women Business Owners- WBO Score :MIWE
Score :

19.8

62.0

(2018: Score 19.8, Rank 43)

Rank 42High
incomeHigh
WBO

Women’s
Advancement
Outcomes:(2018: Score (58.6,
Rank 13)

Rank 33(2018: Score 66.5, Rank 6)

High
MIWE

Ccomponent A

52.7

Rank 25

Below Trendline

Component C

Component B

Knowledge Assets &Financial Access:Supporting Entrepreneurial
Conditions

64.3

74.0

(2018: Score 68.1,
Rank 45)

Rank 48(2018: Score 76.8,
Rank 7)

Rank 11

Woman Labor Force
Participation (F/M)(90.3, rank 2)

Women Tertiary Education
GER (F/M)(100.0, rank 1)

Quality of Governance(94.2, rank 4)

Women Business Leaders(F%T)(39.1, rank 8)

Woman Financial Inclusions(95.2, rank 16)

Ease of Doing Business(81.3, rank 9)

Woman Professionals &Technical Workers (F%T)(51.8, rank 19)

Support for SMEs
(59.2, rank 27)

Entrepreneurial Supporting
Factors(71.5, rank 12)

5.8
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019 106

Increase in Opportunity-Driven Entrepreneurship among Women
Compared to the previous year, there was a marked decline in female necessity-driven entrepreneurship(down from 7.5% to 1.3%), while that for male rose from 7.6% to 12.5%. In contrast, the percentage offemales involved in total early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA) that were driven by good business
opportunities rose from 75.6% to 80.0%, surpassing men’s figure of 70.7%. This is exceptionally highcompared to global and regional averages among adult population of only 45.6% and 45.4%, respectively.
The average entrepreneur here is also quite innovative, with around one-third of entrepreneurs indicatingthat their product or service is new to at least some customers and few/no businesses are offering thesame. This compares well to the global and regional averages of 26.3% and 27.9%, respectively. This is not
surprising, given that some of the world’s most innovative companies such as IKEA, Ericsson and Spotify arefounded here.

Component A:
Women’s Advancement Outcomes

2018
Score,(Rank)

2019
Score,(Rank)

Women Labor Force Participation(F/M)

90.2 (2)90.3 (2)

Women Business Leaders (F%T)

39.0 (8)39.1 (8)

Women Professionals & Technical
Workers (F%T)

51.8 (20)51.8 (19)

Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate
(F/M)

64.8 (36)Comments•

Women workforce participation remains very
high, nearly at par with men; likely fueled by very
favorable labor market conditions such as strong
labor union & very good employee benefits••

Women’s share of business leadership quite high
Women’s role as professionals & technicians
lower than expected given high knowledge
assetsGender gap in entrepreneurial activity rate
widened considerably
Women’s inclination towards entrepreneurship
low; constrained by marginalization in funding &low perception of capability•
42.1 (53)••Component B: Knowledge Assets & Financial Access
Women Tertiary Education GER(F/M)

100.0 (1)100.0 (1)

Women Financial Inclusion (F/M)

95.4 (14)95.2 (16)Support for SMEs

65.1 (19)59.2 (27)

Women Borrowing/Saving for
Business (F/M)

34.5 (56)•

Women have equal opportunities to gain higher
level education and fair equal access to financial
services & products
Availability and effectiveness of government
support programs not as high as desired•

Women are now the least likely to borrow
to start, operate or expand a business; likely
discouraged by the challenges in getting loan
approvals•

Highly effective regulations, policies and systems
in place, minimal corruption, stable politicalconditions

30.3 (58)Component C: Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions

Quality of Governance95.3 (3)94.2 (4)Ease of Doing Business81.3 (8)81.3 (9)•Efficient & effective business regulation andbest practices

Entrepreneurial Supporting Factors

73.2 (9)71.5 (12)••Society is receptive of entrepreneurial failure
Large pool of skilled resources•

Society has low regard for success achieved
through personal effort and individuality
Society does not really encourage
entrepreneurial risk taking, but recognizes andencourages creativity & innovativeness

Cultural Perceptions of Entrepreneurs

61.4 (20)54.9 (36)•5.8Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019 107

Constraints
Lack of Confidence
Unfortunately, although the perception of good opportunities is high, the average adult lacks confidence inrunning a business, with around 4 in every 10 believing they are incapable of doing so. This is reflected in the
low entrepreneurial intentions rate, with less than 10% of latent entrepreneurs expressing an intention tostart a business within 3 years.
Women Business Ownership Rate Still Very Low
Swedish women’s share of the business world remained unchanged, accounting for 1 in every 5 businesses(19.8%, rank 43). This figure is discouragingly low, despite women’s work experience and high education
attainment evident from the high labor force participation rate (94.2% of working age women are working) and
77% of tertiary age females are enrolled for tertiary education. GEM’s data for Sweden also revealed very low
established business ownership rates: only 5.3% compared to global and regional averages of 8.4% and 7.1%,
respectively. This means that out of every 100 businesses, only 5 has been in operation for more than 3.5 years.
Very Attractive Labor Market that May be Foiling the Motivation to Start a Business
One possible reason for the high workforce participation rate (and thus low business startup rates) is thefact that Sweden has one of the most attractive labor markets in the world. Not only do workers havestrong rights, they are back up by powerful labor unions that fervently advocate the health and safetyof employees as well as a government agency, the Swedish Work Environment Authority that oversees
employees’ well-being at work. Labor laws also ensure that employees receive comprehensive social benefits
such as subsidized healthcare, childcare, children’s education, among many others. Parents are also granted
an incredible 18 months of paid parental leave per child, coupled with job security when parents return towork. All these lucrative and comprehensive benefits may actually be deterring individuals from wanting toleave the workforce and take on new business adventures. xxxv
Discrimination When Seeking Funding
A research report “Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice” undertaken at Sweden’s Luleå University ofTechnology in 2017 revealed that as one of the world’s most egalitarian societies with women owning andrunning one-third of Swedish businesses, only 13% to 18% of government venture funding are conferred
to women-owned firms. More than that, the findings also showed that men generally received up to 52%
of the requested funding, while women received only a quarter. Although there was no difference between
men’s and women’s ability to run a business, men enjoyed a higher chance of receiving grants (62%)
compared to women (48%). xxxvi
Cultural Norms
Findings from GEM’s 2018 report on Sweden suggest that only half of the population perceives
entrepreneurship to be a good career choice (compared to the global and regional rates of around 60%).

The Way Ahead
Although Sweden has good physical, education, commercial and legal infrastructures, there are many
shortcoming to be overcome, such as: (i) granting more access to funding for women; (ii) instilling womenwith more confidence by improving entrepreneurship training at colleges and universities; (iii) streamlining
government policies and support programs for small businesses; and (iv) inspiring more women to venture
into business xxxvii by improving networking and mentoring initiatives.

5.9
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019 108

I
FranceHelm of index

High income

Lower than
expected WomenBusiness OwnershipHighoverall index
score

As noted in the Handbook on Well-Being of Working Women, women’s socio-economic performance inFrance is paradoxical. Although women are more educated than their male counterparts (71.8% female
tertiary enrollment vs. 57.9% for men) and are increasingly represented in the labor market (up from
47.9% in 2013 to 50.3% in 2018) and positions of responsibility (female leadership 32% of total), theirability to thrive as entrepreneurs has not really taken off. Although the latest Mastercard Index of Women
Entrepreneurs 2019 results shows France advancing notably from rank 34 (60.4 points) to rank 12 (64.8),
the proportion of women who have just started an entrepreneurial activity or has started one for less than
3.5 years remains very low (5.3% compared to 7.0% for men in 2018). While this represents a more than
two-fold increase from 2.4% to 5.3%, this is lower than what has been achieved in global economies such as
Australia (9.2%), New Zealand (13.7%), Ireland (7.5%), Canada (17.0%), the US (13.6%), and Chile (21.2%).
On a positive note, French women are highly driven by business opportunities, with nearly 7 in every 10
women-led entrepreneurial activity arising out of opportunities (66.9% compared to 77.5% for men).
Recent data showed that more French women are turning to entrepreneurship as a way to further
their careers, balance family life, and tap into traditionally male-dominated industries. The increase
in women’s entrepreneurship from 2.4% to 5.3% may also be driven by the influence of the businessfriendly administration of French President Emanuel Macron’s commitment to gender equality andentrepreneurship. Some initiatives that have positively nurtured the business setup environment for womenin France include institutionalized public funding for entrepreneurs and increased sharing of success stories
involving female founders in social media. xxxviii Other factors include: (i) expansionary monetary policy
environment (zero interest rate) that kept borrowing costs for business low; (ii) economic expansion in 2017
which may have buoyed confidence in starting a business; and (iii) fairly high unemployment rate conditions
that may make starting a business an attractive alternative.

5.9
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019 109

FranceSummary Findings
Benchmark
Women Business Owners- WBO Score :MIWE
Score :

25.5

64.8

(2018: Score 25.4, Rank 28)

Rank 28

High
incomeHigh
WBO

Women’s
Advancement
Outcomes:(2018: Score (48.8,
Rank 42)

Rank 20(2018: Score 60.4, Rank 34)

High
MIWE

Component A

56.1

Rank 12

Below Trendline

Component C

Component B

Knowledge Assets &Financial Access:Supporting Entrepreneurial
Conditions

78.2

65.0

(2018: Score 74.9,
Rank 23)

Rank 10(2018: Score 64.7,
Rank 25)

Rank 22

Woman Labor Force
Participation (F/M)(90.3, rank 2)

Women Tertiary Education
GER (F/M)(100.0, rank 1)

Quality of Governance(79.8, rank 18)

Women Entrepreneurial
Activity Rate - (F/M)(75.7, rank 24)

Support for SMEs
(70.8, rank 8)

Entrepreneurial Supporting
Factors(67.0, rank 18)

Women Business Leaders(F%T)(32.1, rank 28)

Woman Financial Inclusions(96.6, rank 13)

Ease of Doing Business(77.3, rank 19)

5.9
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019 110

Social Structures that Highly Incentivize Women to Work or Stay
Home Instead of Starting a BusinessAlthough some inroads have been made in driving French women’s motivation to start businesses, there
are still some factors that are stopping women from venturing into business. Research also revealed thatentry into the entrepreneurship field is significantly more challenging for women because they are “understructural social pressure” xxxix and face marginalization at various fronts. As is observed in many otherMarkets, although a large amount of research work has been dedicated to advocate gender equality andefforts have been made via programs, policies and laws to support women in business, the effects ofgendered division remains widespread in the workplace, national institutions and corporate world.xI Suchdeeply ingrained discriminatory practices prevent societal attitudes from changing to be more receptive of
female entrepreneurship.
Over the last 2 decades, various national framework measures have been adopted to promote andenhance the empowerment of French women as entrepreneurs. Successive governments have also useddifferent measures such as networks, support and mentoring structures and dedicated programs that
directly support women entrepreneurship. These include ‘Entreprendre au féminin’ (a female businessnetwork that helps setup women-led businesses) and the ‘Racines-Clefe’ (an innovative financial support
program designed for women entrepreneurs only). These initiatives have helped boost the rate of female
entrepreneurship, although progress remains slow due to social structures that incentivize women to stayat home, xIi or work (as opposed to start a business).
For instance, labor laws are very family-friendly and geared towards supporting women who want tohave children and keep working. These policies have been effective, with France having the second-highest
birth rate in Europe, trailing Ireland. These enviable policies are very similar to those in Sweden, including
paid maternity leave, paid preschool, and generous paid leave policy that allows parents to take a year off
work and get their job back upon their return. xIii It is therefore not surprising that women may avert fromassuming business risk and choose to remain in the comfort and security of their job.
Another reason for the slow growth rate in women-led businesses could be due to the fact that society ingeneral has very poor regard for entrepreneurial risk-taking, creativity and innovativeness, and individuality
compared to peers in Europe such as Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. This is evident in 2
sub-indicators: ‘Attitude to Entrepreneurial Failure’ (53.9, rank 43) and ‘Cultural Perceptions of Entrepreneurs’(43.1, rank 50). This compares poorly with other neighboring peers in Europe such as Denmark, Germany,
Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and Ireland where the national culture is considerably more receptive towards
entrepreneurship failure. In fact, France ranks the 4th lowest in the whole MIWE research in terms of thedegree to which the nation encourages or supports entrepreneurial risk taking. The lack of encouragement
and inspiration from society may also explain why the entrepreneurial intention rate among French adults is
low compared to their global peers (18.6% compared to 23.7%).

5.9
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

Component A:
Women’s Advancement Outcomes

MIWE 2019 111

2018
Score,(Rank)

2019
Score,(Rank)

Comments•
Women Labor Force Participation(F/M)

83.6 (8)83.8 (18)••
Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate
(F/M)

43.6 (51)

Women Business Leaders (F%T)

31.9 (29)32.1 (28)

Women Professionals & Technical
Workers (F%T)

48.6 (31)48.7 (30)75.7 (24)••

Women workforce participation fairly high but
still trails men
Women driven to work by very favorable labormarket conditions such as good employee
benefits
Women’s entrepreneurial activity rate doubled
from 2.4% to 5.3%
Likely driven by the government’s proactive
stance to push female entrepreneurship forward
However, rate is low when compared to otherMarkets, weighed down by poor cultural
perception of entrepreneurs•

Women’s share of business leadership and role
as professionals and technicians lower than
expected despite being well-educated.

Women have equal opportunities to gain higher
level education
Availability and effectiveness of government
support programs is favorable
Physical infrastructure provides good support for
new and existing businesses

Component B: Knowledge Assets & Financial Access
Women Tertiary Education GER (F/M)

100.0 (1)100.0 (1)•Support for SMEs

71.0 (10)70.8 (8)•

Women Financial Inclusion (F/M)

93.6 (21)96.6 (13)•

Women Borrowing/Saving for Business(F/M)

47.3 (43)54.6 (42)•

Proportion of women who borrow/save to start,
operate or expand a business is very low

Component C: Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions
Quality of Governance

78.6 (18)79.8 (18)•Regulations, policies and systems are in place

Entrepreneurial Supporting Factors

66.2 (19)67.0 (18)•

Efficient & effective business regulation andbest practices

Ease of Doing Business76.3 (21)77.3 (19)••Society is not very receptive of business failure
Fairly easy to find skilled employees•

Society has extremely low tolerance and regard
for entrepreneurial risk taking, individuals whotake initiative, and those who achieve successthrough personal effort

Cultural Perceptions of Entrepreneurs

44.2 (54)Table: Enablers & Constraints - French Women in Business43.1 (50)5.9Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019 112

The Way Ahead
France’s female entrepreneurial activity rate appears to be well-set on a gradual, upward trend, fueledby young and ambitious women turning towards founding a startup. This new trend is expected to help
bolster the country’s fast-growing tech ecosystem, with 1 out of four companies created since 2015
having at least one female entrepreneur. However, although the progress achieved today is encouraging,
women will continue to face an uphill battle to change society’s perception of women-led businesses. This
challenge is multiplied many folds when it comes to starting a business in technology fields. Furthermore,
the adverse impact of the ‘Yellow Vest’ protests on French businesses such as hotels, restaurants, retailers
and department stores nationwide since last Nov’18 is likely to have severely dented intentions to start
new businesses, at least for the time being. The ongoing unrest has taken its toll on multiple fronts,
including slumps in hiring, a switch from traditional brick-and-mortar shopping to e-commerce, and sharp
declines in sector revenues by between 15 and 50 percent.xIiii The results in the next data update by Global
Entrepreneurship Monitor will probably reflect the extent of the impact.

5.10
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019 113

L
UAE
Helm of index

High income

Lower than
expected WomenBusiness OwnershipHighoverall index
score

United Arab Emirates continues to be uniquely placed on the MIWE matrix: lower than expected overall index score and very low Women Business Ownership rate (7.7% of total, rank 52). The results remain baffling, given the numerous highly conducive and supportive entrepreneurial conditions in the country. Although
women here are well-educated (parity with men for tertiary education enrollment), their participation in theworkforce remains below aspirations, with only half of working-age females working or looking for work. This
compares very poorly with their male counterparts whose participation rate is 93%. Women’s representationin the field of professional and technical job, as well as in legislative and high administration positions are low.
This points to poor women’s visibility in politics and weak empowerment when it comes to matters related tothe economy and finance. xIiv

5.10
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019 114

UAE
Summary Findings
Benchmark
Women Business Owners- WBO Score :MIWE
Score :

7.7

51.9

(2018: Score 7.2, Rank 54)

Rank 52

High
incomeHigh
WBO

Women’s
Advancement
Outcomes:(2018: Score (29.2,
Rank 53)

Rank 52(2018: Score 50.5, Rank 48)

High
MIWE

Ccomponent A

29.7

Rank 47

Below Trendline

Component C

Component B

Knowledge Assets &Financial Access:Supporting Entrepreneurial
Conditions

79.2

71.7

(2018: Score 74.8,
Rank 24)

Rank 6(2018: Score 71.0,
Rank 15)

Rank 13

Woman Entrepreneurial
Activity Rate (F/M)(91.8, rank 13)

Women Tertiary Education
GER (F/M)(100.0, rank 1)

Cultural Perceptions of
Entrepreneurs(67.8, rank 4)

Woman Labor Force
Participation (F/M)(54.8, rank 50)

Support for SMEs
(75.9, rank 3)

Ease of Doing Business(81.3, rank 8)

Women Business Leaders(F%T)(10.6, rank 55)

Woman Borrowing/Savingfor Business (F/M)(65.3, rank 20)

Entrepreneurial Supporting
Factors(70.7, rank 15)

5.10
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019 115

Although the perception of good business opportunities is very high (66% versus global and regional
averages of 46% and 45%, respectively), and the intention to start a business is high (one in 3 adults
compared to 1 in 4 globally and regionally), only 1 in every 10 adults are actually engaged in early-stage
entrepreneurial activities. It is interesting to note that women are nearly as likely as men to start anentrepreneurial activity or has started one for a maximum of 3.5 years (‘Women Entrepreneurial Activity
Rate F/M’ of 91.8, rank 13). In fact, the results showed both females and males to be slightly more engaged
in entrepreneurial activity rate since the last GEM update: females up from 8.3% in 2017 to 10.1% in 2018
and males from 9.3% to 11.0%.

Promising Infrastructure & Strong Support Programs
Compared to most economies in the Middle East & Africa and high-income economies globally, the UAE hasadmirably very well-developed physical, education, commercial and financial infrastructures that supports
entrepreneurship. Here, the support for women-led entrepreneurs is very strong and the market presents
bountiful business opportunities for women entrepreneurs to explore and flourish in. Rapid growth in female
entrepreneur support groups has also led to increased funding for new businesses. For instance, there arefemale-specific investment groups that introduce early-stage accelerator programs for female-foundedstartups and development consultancy firms that provide guidance on business skills and confidencebuilding to women in SMEs. Efforts have also been made by companies in the UAE to develop technologybased solutions to make the return-to-work process easier for women who have given birth. Some of theseinclude online platforms for women to be trained, acquire new skills, or get upskilled. xIv

Such focused and ongoing effort to support female entrepreneurs at both the institutional andgovernmental level are reflected in the steady increase in score for ‘Support for SMEs’, up from 70.2 in2016 to 73.1 in 2017, and again to 75.9 in 2018, bringing UAE to rank 3 among the 58 markets analyzed.
The results also show improvement in some of the MIWE sub-indicators, including ‘Ease of Doing Business’,‘Cultural Perceptions of Entrepreneurs’, ‘Women Financial Inclusion – F/M’, and ‘Women Borrowing or Saving
for a Business – F/M’.

New Policies: 100% Foreign Ownership & 10-Year Visa for Expats
In January, the UAE cabinet begun the implementation of new regulations that allow full foreign ownershipof businesses and 10-year residency visas for expats, investors and businesspeople. The new law is expected
to draw foreign investors seeking to set up businesses or acquire local companies. Specifically, the 10-year
long-term visa will be granted to investors, entrepreneurs and specialists working in the fields of medicine,science or research. xIvi It is envisaged that this will help to invigorate market dynamics in the Gulf country
and provide more opportunities and scope for female entrepreneurship to take off.

5.10
Case Studies of
Selected Markets

MIWE 2019 116

Key Deterrents
Recent research showed that some of the biggest barriers that limit the growth of female entrepreneurshipand business ownership include lack of funding, inadequate or insufficient practical skills, and confidence.xIvii
Women’s ability to thrive in the business world is also hindered by other circumstances such as low access tofinancial privileges, lower opportunities to assume business leadership and professional roles (compared tomen) and low participation in the workforce and thus less exposure to the entrepreneurial landscape andchances to gain hands-on work experience.
Although there are notably more women with bachelor’s degree (43%) than men (23%), gender discriminationis still deeply entrenched across the nation, particularly in the legal system which places men’s rights in the family
and personal life matters such as marriage, divorce and custody of children above women’s. xIviii

Component A:
Women’s Advancement Outcomes

2018
Score,(Rank)

2019
Score,(Rank)

Comments

Women Entrepreneurial Activity Rate
(F/M)

89.2 (12)91.8 (13)•The gender gap for entrepreneurial activity rate
narrowed from the previous publication
Women’s engagement in early-stage
entrepreneurial activities rose from 8.3% to
10.1%

Women Labor Force Participation (F/M)

54.8 (50)54.8 (50)•

Women workforce participation is among thelowest in the MIWE study

Women Business Leaders (F%T)

10.4 (54)10.6 (55)•

Women’s role as business leaders is among thelowest in the MIWE study, with only 1 female inevery 10

Women Professionals & Technical
Workers (F%T)

14.3 (58)

14.6 (58)••

Lowest in the MIWE study
Likely due to deeply rooted cultural beliefs

Women have equal opportunities to gain higher
level education
Availability and effectiveness of government
support programs among highest of 58 markets
Women are less inclined to borrow or save for abusiness than men•

Component B: Knowledge Assets & Financial Access
Women Tertiary Education GER (F/M)

100.0 (1)100.0 (1)•Support for SMEs

73.1 (6)75.9 (3)•

Women Borrowing/Saving for Business(F/M)

57.2 (31)65.3 (20)

Women Financial Inclusion (F/M)

74.8 (41)79.5 (38)••

Women’s access to financial services & products
is fair; less compared to men•

Component C: Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions

Cultural Perceptions of Entrepreneurs

64.8 (10)67.8 (4)•Majority of society believes entrepreneurship tobe a good career choiceSociety recognizes and encourages putting in
own’s effort to achieve success, taking businessrisks, and rewards individuality

Ease of Doing Business78.9 (12)81.3 (8)•Highly efficient & effective business regulation
and best practices

Entrepreneurial Supporting Conditions

73.0 (10)70.7 (15)••High pool of skilled resources
Society is fairly tolerant of entrepreneurial failure

Quality of Governance68.0 (28)67.9 (28)••High quality public & civil services
Citizens have not much freedom to choose theirown government, express their voices and havefreedom in social media

Table: Enablers & Constraints - UAE Women in BusinessMIWE 2019 117

1

Global Entrepreneur Monitor, 2017 Report, page 39.

i.

Global Entrepreneur Monitor, 2017 Report, page 41.

ii.

Global Entrepreneur Monitor, 2017 Report, page 41.

iii.

AARP, “Many older women start businesses out of necessity”, 28 Nov 2018, https://www.aarp.org/work/small-business/info-2018/
why-older-women-start-businesses.html

iv.

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Country Report: The US 2017, pages 14 and 15v.

Report by PayPal Canada and Barraza & Associates in Global News Online. “Canadian women who start businesses make 58% lessthan male entrepreneurs: report”. 16 Aug 2018. https://globalnews.ca/news/4390726/canadian-women-business-salaries-report/vi.

The Balance Small Business Online, “Statistics on Canadian Women in Business”, 28 Feb 2019, https://www.thebalancesmb.com/
statistics-on-canadian-women-in-business-2948029

vii.

Forbes.com, “Invest Canada 2018 – How Canadian entrepreneurs are changing the country’s economy”, 27 Jun 2018, https://www.
forbes.com/sites/bijankhosravi/2018/06/27/invest-canada-2018-how-canadian-entrepreneurs-are-changing-the-countrys-economy/#71c66b62378c

viii.

Forbes.com, “Invest Canada 2018 – How Canadian entrepreneurs are changing the country’s economy”, 27 Jun 2018, https://www.
forbes.com/sites/bijankhosravi/2018/06/27/invest-canada-2018-how-canadian-entrepreneurs-are-changing-the-countrys-economy/#71c66b62378c

ix.

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Country Profile: Canada https://gemconsortium.org/country-profile/49

x.

The Balance Small Business Online, “Statistics on Canadian Women in Business”, 28 Feb 2019, https://www.thebalancesmb.com/
statistics-on-canadian-women-in-business-2948029

xi.

PayPal Canada and Barraza & Associates Research Report in cision.com. “New Research reveals Canadian women entrepreneurs
earn 58 per cent less than men”, 15 Aug 2018.

xii.

Balance Small Business.com “Statistics on Canadian Women in Business”, 28 Feb 2019. https://www.thebalancesmb.com/statistics-on-canadian-women-in-business-2948029

xiii.

The Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, “Funding Opportunities for Business Women in International Trade (BWIT)” https://www.
tradecommissioner.gc.ca/businesswomen-femmesdaffaires/funding-financement.aspx?lang=eng

xiv.

Report on “Ireland & The Impacts of Brexit: Strategic Implications for Ireland Arising from Changing EU-UK Trading Relations”, Copenhagen Economics for the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Government of Ireland. https://dbei.gov.ie/en/Publications/Publication-files/Ireland-and-the-Impacts-of-Brexit.pdf

xv.

The Spin Off Online, “Ten amazing New Zealand women in business”, 8 Mar 2018, https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/08-03-2018/ten-amazing-new-zealand-women-in-business/xvi.

The 2017/18 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report on Switzerland.

xvii.

World Economic Forum, Global Competitiveness Report 2018 – Switzerland http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-report-2018/country-economy-profiles/?doing_wp_cron=1557486438.2137091159820556640625#economy=CHE

xviii.

The 2017/18 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report on Switzerland. Page 5 of 49.

xix.

Global Entrepreneurial Monitor, Report on Switzerland – Policy Brief, https://www.gemconsortium.org/country-profile/111

xx.

OECD in Wikipedia, Average annual wages 2017 (USD) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Markets_by_average_wage

xxi.

The Local.com. “The pros and cons of working in Switzerland”, 1 Oct 2018, https://www.thelocal.ch/20181001/the-pros-and-consof-working-in-switzerland-career-jobs

xxii.

OECD Better Life Index – Switzerland. http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/Markets/switzerland/xxiii.

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2017/2018 – Report on Switzerland

xxiv.

Your Story.com. “Overcoming gender gap: Singaporean female entrepreneurs pummel their way through the ceiling”, 19 Nov 2017,https://yourstory.com/2017/11/singapore-female-entrepreneurs

xxv.

Value Champion.com “How to get the best loan for your small business” https://www.valuechampion.sg/how-get-best-loan-yoursmall-businessxxvi.

SBS Consulting, “5 Incubator Schemes: Best ways to fund your start-up business Singapore”, 1 Mar 2019. https://www.sbsgroup.
com.sg/blog/5-incubator-schemes-ways-to-fund-your-start-up-business-in-singapore/

xxvii.

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Country Profile – Singapore. Note: The latest data available for Singapore is 2014.

xxviii.

McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) in Channel News Asia Online, “Narrowing gender gap can add S$26b to Singapore’s GDP by 2025:
Report”, 24 April 2018. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/narrowing-gender-gap-can-add-s-26b-to-singapore-sgdp-by-2025-10170686

xxix.

Women Entrepreneurs UK Online. Entrepreneur Articles: Funding for Women Entrepreneurs. https://www.womenentrepreneursuk.
com/funding-women-entrepreneurs/

xxx.

“Women Entrepreneurs UK Online”, Entrepreneur Articles: Business Grants for Women Entrepreneurs. https://www.womenentrepreneursuk.com/business-grants-for-women-entrepreneurs/

xxxi.

Women Entrepreneurs UK Online. Entrepreneurs Articles: “Women and Business – The Present Equation”. https://www.womenentrepreneursuk.com/women-in-business/

MIWE 2019 118

xxxii.

The Telegraph News Online. “’Shocking lack of female entrepreneurs’ as it emerges just a fifth of British businesses are fun by a woman”, 21 Sep 2018. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/09/21/government-launches-review-barriers-female-entrepreneurship/xxxiii.

Women Entrepreneurs UK Online. Entrepreneurs Articles: “Women and Business – The Present Equation”. https://www.womenentrepreneursuk.com/women-in-business/

xxxiv.

Forbes Online, “Where are all the UK’s female entrepreneurs?”, 24 Sep 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidprosser/2018/09/24/where-are-all-the-uks-female-entrepreneurs/#1dd3c17d5665

xxxv.

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xxxvi.

sons-to-work-in-sweden/

xxxvii. Quartz Online, Fundraising while Female, “Recordings of VCs talking about investments shows why women founders have such ahard time”, 24 May 2017. https://qz.com/988809/recordings-of-venture-capitalists-talking-about-investments-shows-gender-bias-in-fundraising-for-female-founders/
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gemconsortium.org/country-profile/110
xxxix.

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xl.

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xli.

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xlii.

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Endnotes
MIWE 2019 119