In this article we provide an introduction to the papers in the special section of this edition of the European Journal of Development Research. We start by framing the challenges posed by female entrepreneurship to the research community, note some of the findings in the literature pertaining to the cross-national understanding of female entrepreneurship, and review the existing literature on the role and experience of female entrepreneurs in developing countries. Despite progress in understanding the motivations, constraints and issues that confront female entrepreneurs, there is still substantial scope for further research. We then discuss four papers that advance this research agenda.Dans ce papier nous introduisons les articles composant la rubrique de ce nume´ro du European Journal of Development Research. Cette rubrique est consacre´e aux mode`les et de´terminants de l'entreprenariat fe´minin dans les diffe´rents pays, et se penche plus particulie`rement sur le cas des pays en voie de de´veloppement. Dans un premier temps, nous pre´sentons les de´fis que repre´sente la question de l'entreprenariat fe´minin pour la communaute´scientifique, nous de´crivons quelques uns des re´sultats de la litte´rature concernant la conception trans-nationale de l'entreprenariat fe´minin, et passons en revue la litte´rature portant sur le roˆle et les expe´riences des femmes entrepreneurs dans les pays en voie de de´veloppement. Bien que l'on comprenne de mieux en mieux les motivations des femmes entrepreneurs, ainsi que les contraintes et proble`mes auxquels elles font face, ces questions me´ritent des recherches plus approfondies. Nous pre´sentons ensuite quatre articles qui font progresser cet agenda de recherche.

Africa's tourism potential is acknowledged to be significant but underdeveloped. This paper uses both cross-section data and panel data for the period 1996–2000 to identify the determinants of tourism arrivals in 43 African countries, taking into account tourists' country of origin. The results strongly suggest that political stability, tourism infrastructure, marketing and information, and the level of development at the destination are key determinants of travel to Africa. Typical ‘developed country determinants’ of tourism demand, such as the level of income in the origin country, the relative prices and the cost of travel, are not so significant in explaining the demand for Africa as a tourism destination. It is therefore recommended that attention should be given to improving the overall stability of the continent and the availability and quantity of tourism infrastructure.

Development economics, Entrepreneurship, Poverty, Structural change, L26, M13, O1, O2,

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