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This paper presents the results of the research of motives of female entrepreneurs for starting their entrepreneurial activity. The research is conducted on a sample of 40 female entrepreneurs from a number of cities in the Republic of Serbia. The results indicate that the motivation of the female entrepreneurs is a complex phenomenon that is made of a combination of the so-called negative (push) and positive (pull) motives for starting the entrepreneurial activity. Looking at the structure of the motives, the results suggest that female entrepreneurs are attracted to the entrepreneurship by the existence of business opportunities to a greater extent than they are pushed in this activity by an absence of other and better options of employment. These results should be interpreted in the context of the sample’s educational structure, in which over a half of the respondents have higher levels of education. Regarding the key motives, it can be said that female entrepreneurs are a heterogeneous group, given the fact that the pull motives are more important for the population of more educated entrepreneurs, and that the push motives are more significant for starting the entrepreneurial activity among women with lower educational attainment. Similarly, although the flexibility of working hours is one of the most important motives for female entrepreneurs in general, its importance is most pronounced in the population of female entrepreneurs that are between 26 and 45 years old. The lack of the statistical significance of some results is explained by the sample size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the factors that influence female entrepreneurship in Spain, using institutional economics as the theoretical framework. The empirical research uses Spanish regional-level panel data (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and National Statistics Institute of Spain) covering the period 2003-2010. The main findings indicate that informal factors (recognition of entrepreneurial career and female networks) are more relevant for female entrepreneurship than formal factors (education, family context and differential of income level). The research contributes both theoretically (advancing knowledge with respect to environmental factors that affect female entrepreneurship), and practically (for the design of support policies and educational programmes to foster female entrepreneurial activity). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]