ABSTRACT

A detailed empirical study of how small business owners finance their enterprises, this volume compares the experiences of women with those of men. The author redresses an over-reliance on subjective and anecdotal evidence of discrimination in this area with a controlled study of forty matched pairs of male/female owners and their strategies for raising finances. The research reveals the importance of adopting a theoretical framework in which the role of gender in the financing of small businesses is considered, and the practical implications for female entrepreneurs, banks and policy-makers.

chapter 2|36 pages

The financing of women-owned businesses

An empirical overview and theoretical framework

chapter 3|32 pages

Research into the financing of women-owned businesses

Methodological considerations

chapter 4|26 pages

Raising finance

The use of and attitudes towards sources of small business finance