Institutions, gender, and entrepreneurship in latin America

This chapter seeks to explore the institutional effects on the probability of becoming an entrepreneur, for both women and men, among a low-income level population, in the context of Latin American countries. By using institutional economics, it is hypothesized that personal autonomy, membership of an art or music organization, membership of a religious organization, and secondary educational environment have a positive effect on the probability of becoming self-employed, for both female and male. The World Values Survey (at individual level) and the World Development Indicators (at country level) provide the main information to empirically assess the influence of institutions on low-income self-employment. The findings from probit models suggest that personal autonomy, membership of an art or music organization, and secondary educational environment are factors defining the context in which women and men become entrepreneurs. Public strategies regarding gender equality are discussed.