Gender Differences in Business Structures Operating in Trade, Information and Communication Services

Abstract

The article is devoted to the assessment of the creation of new businesses in trade and information and communication sphere. Gender differences in entrepreneurial activity by country are considered. The study examined the specifics of the activities of entrepreneurs engaged in services in such sectors as trade and information and communication services for institutions and organizations, as well as private clients. At the same time, the principles and concepts of the existing development of the sectoral structure of entrepreneurship were taken into account. The implementation of the study consisted of five stages. The information base included the results of questionnaire surveys of respondents-entrepreneurs in 59 states when monitoring the activities of entrepreneurs in 2018. In the course of economic and mathematical modeling, six models were developed that reflect the distribution of the following indicators across the subjects of Russia: the proportion of women and men who have created businesses in trade, in the total number of women and men who have started entrepreneurial activity; the share of women and men who have created businesses in the information and communication sphere in the total number of women and men who have started entrepreneurial activities. In addition, the ratios of specific weights describing the provision of services by women entrepreneurs and men entrepreneurs in the trade sector and the information and communication sphere are calculated. For each of the 59 countries, it was determined whether there is an excess of the values of indicators that characterize the corresponding specific weights of male entrepreneurs and female entrepreneurs. For most countries, these values differed significantly, which indicates gender gaps. In addition, the States with the maximum and minimum values of the indices under consideration were identified. The analysis was carried out, which made it possible to compare the obtained average values with the data reflecting the indicators of Russian entrepreneurs. The share of female entrepreneurs in trade is higher than the share of male entrepreneurs. The share of male entrepreneurs in the field of information and communication services is twice as high as the share of female entrepreneurs. The results of the work can be applied in the development of forecasts for the development of trade and information and communication services in the future.