数字化塑造男女创业潜力

Éva Komlósi, Hanga Bilicz, Erkko Autio, Donghyun Park, and Shu Tian ADB ECONOMICSWORKING PAPER SERIES ADB Economics Working Paper Series Digitalization in Shaping Female and MaleEntrepreneurial Potential Éva Komlósi, Hanga Bilicz, Erkko Autio,Donghyun Park, and Shu Tian Éva Komlósi (komlosi.eva@ktk.pte.hu) is a researchfellow and Hanga Bilicz (bilicz.hanga@ktk.pte.hu)is an assistant lecturer at the University of Pécs.Erkko Autio (erkko.autio@imperial.ac.uk) is a professorat Imperial College London. Donghyun Park(dpark@adb.org) is an economic advisor andShu Tian (stian@adb.org) is a principal economist atthe Economic Research and Development ImpactDepartment, Asian Development Bank. No. 796 | August 2025 TheADB Economics Working Paper Seriespresents research in progress to elicit commentsand encourage debate on development issuesin Asia and the Pacific. The views expressedare those of the authors and do not necessarilyreflect the views and policies of ADB orits Board of Governors or the governmentsthey represent. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO) © 2025 Asian Development Bank6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City, 1550 Metro Manila, PhilippinesTel +63 2 8632 4444; Fax +63 2 8636 2444www.adb.org Some rights reserved. Published in 2025. ISSN 2313-6537 (print), 2313-6545 (PDF)Publication Stock No. WPS250314-2DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22617/WPS250314-2 The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policiesof the Asian Development Bank (ADB) or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for anyconsequence of their use. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers does not imply that theyare endorsed or recommended by ADB in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. By making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, ADB does notintend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. This publication is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/. By using the content of this publication, you agree to be boundby the terms of this license. For attribution, translations, adaptations, and permissions, please read the provisionsand terms of use at https://www.adb.org/terms-use#openaccess. This CC license does not apply to non-ADB copyright materials in this publication. If the material is attributedto another source, please contact the copyright owner or publisher of that source for permission to reproduce it.ADB cannot be held liable for any claims that arise as a result of your use of the material. Please contact pubsmarketing@adb.org if you have questions or comments with respect to content, or if you wishto obtain copyright permission for your intended use that does not fall within these terms, or for permission to usethe ADB logo. Corrigenda to ADB publications may be found at http://www.adb.org/publications/corrigenda. ABSTRACT This study examines the impact of digitalization on the context shaping male and femaleentrepreneurial potential across 78 economies, utilizing the Female Entrepreneurship Index (FEI)and the Male Entrepreneurship Index (MEI). By analyzing the effects of digital transformation, thestudy aims to understand whether digital tools can reduce gender disparities in entrepreneurshipor if they primarily benefit one gender. Findings indicate a positive effect of digitalization on bothFEI and MEI, affirming that digital readiness enhances entrepreneurial opportunities for all.However, in economies where MEI surpasses FEI, digitalization tends to widen the gender gap,with male entrepreneurs gaining a disproportionate advantage. Conversely, in contexts wherefemale entrepreneurship dominates, digitalization does not significantly impact the MEI–FEI gap.Additional analyses reveal that factors like economic development (gross domestic product percapita) and gender inequalities (political empowerment of women) interact with digitalization tosupport both genders, though competitive environments are notably more influential on femaleentrepreneurial potential. These insights highlight the nuanced role of digitalization in fosteringentrepreneurship, suggesting policies must consider these dynamics to effectively supportgender-balanced growth in entrepreneurial ecosystems. Keywords:entrepreneurship, female entrepreneurship, male entrepreneurship, gender, FemaleEntrepreneurship Index (FEI), Male Entrepreneurship Index (MEI), digitalization JEL codes:L26, O33, J16 I.INTRODUCTION Digital technologies have radically disrupted every aspect of business (Nambisan, Wright, andFeldman 2019, Vial 2019). Digitalization enables firms to cut costs and distinguish their products,especially whe