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This paper analyzes data on female and male entrepreneurship that were collected by the World Bank Group's Entrepreneurship Database. Recognizing the importance of a differentiated approach to entrepreneurship in terms of legal entities, the data on female and male business owners are collected at the level of limited liability companies and sole proprietorships. Forty-four of the 143 economies that participated in the Entrepreneurship project provided some sex-disaggregated data for 2016. The paper finds that the gender gap in business ownership remains high in many economies around the world. In the majority of the analyzed economies, less than one-third of new limited liability company owners are women. Although sole proprietorships are more frequently used by female entrepreneurs, only three economies have similar or equal number of women business owners relative to men. The gap in female entrepreneurship is especially apparent in low-income economies, where women are much less likely than men to start a new business. The paper also provides new insights into the relationship between female entrepreneurship and various institutional factors, including women's financial inclusion, the gender gap in education, and legal rights disparities. The analysis suggests a need to expand the collection of sex-disaggregated data, to trace the economies' progress in narrowing the existing gender gap in entrepreneurship.

Business Ownership --- Economics and Gender --- Female Entrepreneurship --- Gender --- Gender & Poverty --- Gender and Economic Policy --- Gender and Economics --- Gender Gap --- Industry --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Science and Technology Development --- Technology Industry --- Technology Innovation

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Female participation in entrepreneurial activities is higher in Sub-Saharan Africa than in any other region. However, women-owned businesses significantly underperform those owned by men. This paper identifies the main constraints that women face in developing their businesses in Africa and discusses how these constraints influence strategic choices in areas such as level of investment and sector of operations. The paper synthesizes the emerging lessons about what works and what does not work to address the underlying constraints to the performance of women-owned firms. Moreover, it identifies knowledge gaps and priority research questions. The paper aims to support the development of a gender-informed policy and research agenda on enterprise development that can guide practitioners, development partners, and researchers who seek to advance women's economic empowerment in Africa.

Economics and Gender --- Entrepreneurship --- Firm Capabilities --- Gender --- Gender and Economic Policy --- Gender and Economics --- Gender and Poverty --- Marketing --- Microenterprise --- Private Sector Development --- Private Sector Development Law --- Private Sector Economics --- Women Entrepreneurs

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Despite the many simultaneous deprivations faced by forcibly displaced communities, such as food insecurity, inadequate housing, or lack of access to education, there is little research on the level and composition of multidimensional poverty among them, and how it might differ from that of host communities. Relying on household survey data from selected areas of Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan, this paper proposes a Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) that captures the overlapping deprivations experienced by poor individuals in contexts of displacement. Using the MPI, the paper presents multi-country descriptive analysis to explore the relationships between multidimensional poverty, displacement status, and gender of the household head. The results reveal significant differences across displaced and host communities in all countries except Nigeria. In Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Sudan, female-headed households have higher MPIs, while in Somalia, those living in male-headed households are more likely to be identified as multidimensionally poor. Lastly, the paper examines mismatches and overlaps in the identification of the poor by the MPI and the USD 1.90/day poverty line, confirming the need for complementary measures when assessing deprivations among people in contexts of displacement.

Economics and Gender --- Female-Headed Household --- Forced Displacement --- Gender --- Gender and Development --- Gender and Economic Policy --- Gender and Economics --- Gender and Poverty --- Gender Inequality --- Inequality --- Internal Displacement --- Internally Displaced Persons --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Monetary Poverty --- Multidimensional Poverty --- Multidimensional Poverty Index --- Poverty Assessment --- Poverty Diagnostics --- Poverty Impact Evaluation --- Poverty Lines --- Poverty Monitoring and Analysis --- Poverty Reduction --- Refugee