Events calendar

11.00 - 12.30 Tuesday 23 Apr 2013

On campus - London - United Kingdom

SE Seminar Speaker Series - Aleksandra Kacperczyk, MIT

Speaker(s): Aleksandra Kacperczyk

Female Entrepreneurship and Alternative Opportunities Inside an Established Firm

Using unique data on mutual funds founded between 1979 and 2005, I assess gender differences in venturing rates. It has been generally assumed that women are less likely to become entrepreneurs because of constrained access to external opportunities. This study suggests that lower rates of female entrepreneurship may also reflect women’s pursuit of internal opportunities within organizational hierarchies. I find that women are less likely than men to leave current employment to become entrepreneurs. However, the results also show that female employees are more likely to take advantage of alternative opportunity structures within an established organization by launching internal ventures. The findings further indicate that women’s propensity to launch internal ventures is unlikely to reflect gender differences in risk-taking behavior, labor supply, or inter-organizational mobility rates. Instead, I provide evidence that women’s preferences for internal venturing may be partly shaped by access to family benefits associated with paid employment.

Event location

LT7

Contact: Sharon Wilson - Email: swilson@london.edu Tel: 0207 000 8711