Financing tourism entrepreneurship: a gender perspective on the reproduction of inequalities

Figueroa-Domecq, C., de Jong, A. , Kimbu, A. N. and Williams, A. M. (2023) Financing tourism entrepreneurship: a gender perspective on the reproduction of inequalities. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 32(3), (doi: 10.1080/09669582.2022.2130338)

Abstract

Market economies are often characterised by a failure to self-regulate. One of the most enduring of these ‘market failures’ is the ability to maximise the entrepreneurial potential to generate growth. Within this context, gender remains one of, and probably, the most prevalent dimension of this perceived failure to maximise entrepreneurial potential. Feminist political economy provides a starting point for understanding this reproduction of inequalities via policy interventions that have sought to address perceived market failure. This paper analyses how such gendered inequalities are reproduced. Through the critical assessment of Spain’s Emprendetur funding scheme, active from 2012 to 2016, 996 applications were analysed, through a content analysis, applying a gender perspective. The findings, including a decision tree analysis, demonstrate not only that women participate less as applicants in the funding scheme but are also less successful. This can be partly explained because women apply via business typologies that are less successful in relation to the dominance of ICT and technologically informed innovations. However, the barriers extend beyond these typologies; for even when controlling for critical success factors like project size, women are less successful, experiencing a double gender gap, that underlines the need for a gender lens policy approach.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program Marie Sklodowska-Curie, under grant agreement No. WomENT DLV-792738.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: de Jong, Dr Anna
• Authors: Figueroa-Domecq, C., de Jong, A., Kimbu, A. N., and Williams, A. M.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social & Environmental Sustainability
• Journal Name: Journal of Sustainable Tourism
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• ISSN: 0966-9582
• ISSN (Online): 1747-7646
• Published Online: 07 October 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor and Francis Group
• First Published: First published in Journal of Sustainable Tourism 32(3):656-676
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy