Correlational evidence suggest that women entrepreneurs in female-concentrated sectors earn lower profits than their counterparts in male-dominated sectors (Goldstein et al. 2019).<sup>29</sup> Interventions that encourage women to enter male-dominated sectors show promise. Additionally, women-led businesses are less likely to engage in exporting, have limited access to corporate value chains, and receive a small share of public procurement (IFC 2021b). On the demand side, constraints are linked to gender gaps in networks, skills, and finance. On the supply side, many large corporations report a lack of sexdisaggregated data on procurement and distribution channels, which hinders their ability to take positive action. Furthermore, women entrepreneurs generally have less access than male entrepreneurs to digital skills and digital technologies and platforms (Aranda and Qasim 2023). This disparity may be related to gender gaps in smart phone ownership and internet access, which can be attributed to affordability, gender norms, or security concerns, and which limit the expansion of women-led firms in e-commerce. There is still little causal evidence on the impact of interventions addressing these constraints on the performance of women-led businesses.

# 5.1 Encouraging women to enter male-dominated sectors

A report with data from ten countries provides non-causal evidence that women in male-concentrated sectors earn higher profits than women in female-concentrated sectors, even after controlling for a series of observable characteristics (World Bank 2022). Interventions encouraging women entrepreneurs to cross over to male-dominated sectors show promise. Factors correlated with entering male-dominated sectors include higher access to male mentorship (including spousal support), role models, and information (Goldstein et al. 2019, LACGIL 2021). A recent field experiment in the Republic of Congo showed that providing young women with information on trade-specific earnings can shift their preferences toward male-dominated trades (Gassier et al. 2022). Interventions that foster the participation of husbands, role models, or networking could have similar effects. Addressing men’s misperceptions and engaging adolescents in discussions about gender attitudes could encourage crossover, as these efforts have increased labor force participation for women in some contexts (Bursztyn et al. 2020, Dhar et al. 2022). However, there is still no rigorous evidence on whether these types of interventions help women entrepreneurs improve the performance of their businesses. Moreover, it is important to complement crossover interventions with measures to avoid harassment and other challenges of operating in typically male-dominated sectors (World Bank 2022).

# 5.2 Interventions fostering trade readiness and access to new markets

Compared to male entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs face stronger constraints that restrict their ability to trade and realize the benefits of trade (International Trade Centre 2015, World Bank and World Trade Organization 2020). Multidimensional, country-level approaches that address the multiple supply and demand constraints women entrepreneurs face in accessing finance and markets might be required.

> sector of activity explains little, if any, of the gender gap in microenterprise profits in Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and Viet Nam (World Bank 2021).

> 29 There is significant concentration of women-led business in retail, education, social services, tourism—all sectors hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic (Torres et al. 2021).

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