Abstract

ELIZUNDIA CISNEROS, María Eugenia. New business performance: gender perspective. Contad. Adm [online]. 2015, vol.60, n.2, pp.468-485. ISSN 0186-1042.  https://doi.org/10.1016/S0186-1042(15)30010-3.

In the last decade there has been an important growth in female entrepreneurship worldwide. Although this is higher in developed economies, female entrepreneurship in Mexico and Latin America has also grown significantly. The aim of this research is to analyze whether there are significant differences in the backgrounds of new businesses started by men and women in Mexico City and whether these influence in the performance they get. The factors analyzed were their professional experience, their education, whether they have a family history of entrepreneurs, their age, their gender, the initial investment with which the company was formed, the planning level, the type of initial legal entity, if they got some type of professional advice and the initial strategy they choosed. The methodology used was through a questionnaire administered to 192 men and women business owners within the retail and services sector with two to fifteen employees. The results do not show significant differences in the performance of new businesses between the two groups but there are differences in the amount of starting capital and income levels reported.

Keywords : Entrepreneur; Entrepreneurship; Gender; Performance; Mexico.