Labour Market Experience, Gender Diversity and the Success of Women-owned Enterprises

Studies have found that women-owned enterprises lag men-owned enterprises in business performance such as sales, profits and employment. This lower performance has been attributed to several factors like financial constraints, industrial sector or lack of prior relevant experience. However, the studies that investigated the role of prior experience often lacked detailed quantitative evidence. This paper fills this gap by taking advantage of the Canadian Employer–Employee Dynamics Database (CEEDD) over the 2001 to 2015 period.