ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the position and role of firms, businesses and entrepreneurs in the economy from a gender-aware perspective and describes how to analyze firm-level economic wellbeing. Many women and men in the economy derive an income from being self-employed as micro-, small- or medium-sized entrepreneurs. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) collects data on female and male entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship is in theory regarded to be substantially different from Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Home-based entrepreneurs form a special category who operate their business at the interface of the unpaid household and the paid economy. Firms, businesses and entrepreneurs (FBEs) in the private sector engage in the paid production of goods and services for profit and other gains. Moreover, both intrinsic and instrumental value is assigned to creating gender diversity in the workplace, as this would contribute to improved FBE performance. Gender diversity in the workplace implies a heterogeneous workforce, in terms of women and men, at different operational levels.
