Gender and performance of micro and small enterprises in the uMkhanyakude District
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Date
2015
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Publisher
University of Zululand
Abstract
Contemporary development theory asserts that women play a role in uplifting their families
and developing their communities. The recent promotion of entrepreneurship among women
in rural communities has been shown to be a formidably successful approach to development.
Owing to the paucity of local studies in this vein, this project investigated the causal factors
behind female entrepreneurs of uMkhanyakude district staying in business for two years or
longer. Primary data were collected from entrepreneurs operating their businesses in the
locality using snowball sampling method, hence a sample of 273 entrepreneurs were
generated and interviewed by means of questionnaires over the three months period
(September to November 2014).
Two logistic regressions were used: the first one assessed the factors that impact on the
performance of SMEs; the second, was used to estimate factors increasing the probability of
women staying in business. The first regression showed that women tend to influence the
performance of rural SMEs positively and that access to credit is the other crucial factor that
determines business success. Further study revealed that the higher the levels of business
experience, education, business success and hours spent on business the greater the chances
of women staying in business. Financial and input constraints are major restrictions on
women staying in business. Finally, married women are found to be less likely to stay in
business than single women. The study concluded that Grameen-bank type programmes
which offer poor rural women low-cost loans for entrepreneurial purposes could benefit
uMkhanyakude area.
Description
A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Administration and Law in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce in the Department of Economics at the University Of Zululand, South Africa, 2015
Keywords
gender --micro small enterprises --UmKhanyakude