Governance and public policies: Support for women entrepreneurs in France and England?

Abstract

We extend the current literature on barriers to women’s entrepreneurship by providing the perspectives of women entrepreneurs’ lived experience of governance and public policies designed to support entrepreneurship, in France and England. The research draws on primary data comprising interviews with 75 French and English women entrepreneurs as well as secondary data. The research suggests that in France the system of governance is relatively more supportive, whereas in England there are less favourable views of bureaucracy and the conditionality of financial policy instruments, which in turn create unintended outcomes. We extend current understandings of gendered public policies and governance. Points for practitioners The public policy and governance context in France offers relatively more support for women entrepreneurs than in England. There is a potential for policy learning in how to support women entrepreneurs. Financial policy instruments such as social welfare payments may affect women entrepreneurship. Bureaucracy creates time and opportunity costs for women entrepreneurs, which have a gendered impact if they are single parents and have dependents.