Female entrepreneurship, role models and network externalities in middle-income countries

Across the world, the last two decades have witnessed a remarkable improvement in the educational accomplishments of women, even in economies where the gender gap is still widest and women face significant institutional constraints (Bae et al., 2014). Considering the phenomenal rise in women’s education, and the dramatic fall in fertility, one would expect female participation in public life to be increasing. And yet, across all countries (albeit to different degrees), the participation of women in all aspects of economic life is still lagging behind that of men and, more importantly, it does not match their educational achievements (for example, see Majbouri, 2015).