Gender Motives of Mexican Entrepreneurs in Two Large Urban Settings: An Empirical Study

The need for an income is cited by several studies as a primary motive for both formal and informal business start-up activities found in emerging countries. Conversely, entrepreneurs from developed countries enjoying more favorable economic conditions (such as the United States, Canada, or the European Union) are mainly motivated by intrinsic motives. Given the extant literature, it appeared important to determine which motivators were at play in larger Mexican urban centers, where economic conditions seemed to have become similar to those of Canada and the United States. No significant differences were observed between the motives of female as compared to male entrepreneurs from urban Mexico because a majority went into business primarily for economic reasons rather than for intrinsic motives. Knowing that Mexican entrepreneurs are mostly motivated by economic goals should help local governments in designing policies aimed at fostering and facilitating entrepreneurship.