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Women-Owned Businesses: Why do They Matter?

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Are Small Firms Important? Their Role and Impact

Abstract

The role of women in entrepreneurial endeavors has changed dramatically over the past decades. Since 1970, women’s share of small businesses increased from 5 percent to 38 percent, growing from 1.5 million to nearly 8 million in number (74U.S. Small Business Administration, 1995b). Today, women-owned businesses contribute more than $2.3 trillion in sales and employ one out of every four company workers, a total of 18.5 million employees (53National Foundation of Women Business Owners, 1996). Less than three decades ago few women-owned businesses achieved sales of greater than $1 million, but now more than 600,000 boast sales greater than this figure (52NFWBO, 1992).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Boston University, Boston, MA, USA

    Candida Brush

  2. Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Robert D. Hisrich

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  1. Candida Brush
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  2. Robert D. Hisrich
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Baltimore and U.S. Bureau of the Census, USA

    Zoltan J. Acs

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Brush, C., Hisrich, R.D. (1999). Women-Owned Businesses: Why do They Matter?. In: Acs, Z.J. (eds) Are Small Firms Important? Their Role and Impact. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5173-7_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-5173-7_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-7356-8

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