Abstract
Home-based businesses (HBBs) comprise businesses that undertake most or all of their activity
in the owner’s home and those that formally operate from home but where the activity is often
conducted at outdoor or client’s sites. These businesses form a substantial part of the business
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population in mature economies. HBBs have a specific place and location dimension compared
to ‘traditional’ businesses and while it has been assumed that they must be small and local, more
recent evidence suggests that they have fewer traded and untraded interdependencies than
non-HBBs both at local and non-local level. Gender features highly in popular discourses and
academic research about home-based businesses, in particular their local orientation, specific
operation as part-time businesses and family-driven motivation. This supports the view of
women-led businesses being different to men’s. However, evidence on gender differences in the
geography of networks and traded and untraded interdependencies is rare. This paper explores
for the large home-based business sector whether women’s businesses are more local than
men’s. Survey data of businesses in 40 municipalities in the Dutch region in the Netherlands are
used that allow to measure ‘localness’ in a comprehensive way in terms of customer-base, formal
and informal business contacts and other informal networks and to consider other factors
besides gender that may impact on the geography of networks and business contacts. Modelling
findings challenge the view of the locally-oriented women-led HBB and are discussed within the
growing literature on the impact of gender upon entrepreneurial behaviours and networking.
in the owner’s home and those that formally operate from home but where the activity is often
conducted at outdoor or client’s sites. These businesses form a substantial part of the business
64
population in mature economies. HBBs have a specific place and location dimension compared
to ‘traditional’ businesses and while it has been assumed that they must be small and local, more
recent evidence suggests that they have fewer traded and untraded interdependencies than
non-HBBs both at local and non-local level. Gender features highly in popular discourses and
academic research about home-based businesses, in particular their local orientation, specific
operation as part-time businesses and family-driven motivation. This supports the view of
women-led businesses being different to men’s. However, evidence on gender differences in the
geography of networks and traded and untraded interdependencies is rare. This paper explores
for the large home-based business sector whether women’s businesses are more local than
men’s. Survey data of businesses in 40 municipalities in the Dutch region in the Netherlands are
used that allow to measure ‘localness’ in a comprehensive way in terms of customer-base, formal
and informal business contacts and other informal networks and to consider other factors
besides gender that may impact on the geography of networks and business contacts. Modelling
findings challenge the view of the locally-oriented women-led HBB and are discussed within the
growing literature on the impact of gender upon entrepreneurial behaviours and networking.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 2019 |
| Event | RSA Regional Studies Association Winter Conference - London, United Kingdom Duration: 14 Nov 2019 → 15 Nov 2019 |
Conference
| Conference | RSA Regional Studies Association Winter Conference |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
| City | London |
| Period | 14/11/19 → 15/11/19 |