Informal entrepreneurship and gender: Characteristics of peddlers in Bogotá

Abstract

The participation of women in the labor market is a fundamental element in their empowerment process, and entrepreneurship is a key tool to accomplish this objective. However, it is estimated that only a quarter of entrepreneurs in Latin America create ventures that improve their living conditions (Corporación Andina de Fomento, 2013). The purpose of this study was a socio-demographic characterization of both informal entre- preneurial population and the relationship among these characteristics and the gender of the entrepreneur. To this end, a mixed methodological strategy (non-causal correlation and content analysis) was followed from the data collected from a sample of 586 individuals. The results show that individuals initiate this type of activities to address the existing restrictions in the formal labor markets; and that the existing disparities between men and women in the formal labor market are transferred to the informal ones.