Contextual Embeddedness of Women's Entrepreneurship

8 Gender embeddedness in patriarchal contexts undergoing institutional change

Evidence from Nepal¹

Mirela Xheneti and Shova Thapa Karki

Women have been considered as an important ‘untapped source’ of economic growth and development (Minniti & Naudé, 2010), making up 40% of the global workforce (Kelley et al., 2015). Yet, their participation is lower than that of men and often in vulnerable forms of employment in the informal economy as a result of the persisting gender gaps in many countries around the globe (ILO, 2015). The informal economy, defined as ‘the diversified set of economic activities, enterprises, jobs, and workers that are not regulated or protected by the state’ (Chen, 2012), is a feature of both developed and developing countries. ...