Restricted access to markets characterizes women-owned businesses

Growth of women business enterprises (WBEs) has been rapid in fields like manufacturing, where their presence has traditionally been low. This movement partly reflects a growing emphasis on serving corporate and government customers. Women business owners complain that they have less access to clients than male-owned firms, when they seek to operate in markets beyond their traditional household clientele. This study empirically tests the hypothesis that WBEs are discriminated against, when they seek to sell their products to government agencies and other businesses. When WBE traits such as firm size, age, and industry of operation are controlled for statistically, WBEs are shown to have less access to business clients than male-owned firms. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.