Opportunity, necessity, and no one in the middle: A closer look at small, rural, and female-led entrepreneurship in the United States

Tessa Conroy, Sarah A. Low

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Female entrepreneurs in rural America are rarely studied, despite local economic context likely shaping their (self-) employment choices. Development literature suggests entrepreneurship is most prevalent at the lowest and highest income levels, creating a U-shaped relationship between economic development measured with per capita income on the x-axis and the entrepreneurship rate (startups) on the y-axis. At the county level in the United States, we find that female-led startup rates vary with per capita income in the predicted U-shape. Results provide support for place-based entrepreneurship policy and highlight challenges women face while trying to contribute to the rural economy.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)162-196
Number of pages35
JournalApplied Economic Perspectives and Policy
Volume44
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • entrepreneurship
  • female-led
  • gender
  • place-based policy
  • rural economic development
  • startups

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Development
  • Economics and Econometrics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Opportunity, necessity, and no one in the middle: A closer look at small, rural, and female-led entrepreneurship in the United States'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this