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Directions (Q. 1 – 10): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words have been printed in bold to help you to locate them while answering some of the questions.
Despite rapid economic growth, the explosion of micro credit programs and self-help groups, and laudable efforts to increase women’s political participation, gender disparities have remained deep and persistent in India. The UN Gender Inequality Index has ranked India below several sub-Saharan African countries. Gender disparities are even more pronounced in economic participation and women’s business conditions in India. Using data from the 2011 Global Gender Gap report shows that while India scores around the average of the gender gap index overall, its score for women’s economic participation and opportunity is worse than 95% of all countries in the sample. Despite India being the second fastest growing economy in the world, gender disparities have remained deep and persistent in India.
The good news is that the overall India average female business-ownership share (in manufacturing) has increased over time from 26% in 2000 to 37% in 2005. However, there is wide variation across states and industries in the prevalence of women as entrepreneurs. Among the major states of India, those with the highest share of new proprietary businesses in the unorganized manufacturing sector owned by women in 1994 are Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala. Those with the lowest share of female entrepreneurs are Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. Similar patterns hold across states when comparing overall business ownership rates by gender. All but one state (Sikkim) saw an increase in the share of new businesses owned by women over the period of 1994 to 2005.
Not surprisingly, the same industries in which female entrepreneurship is concentrated relative to male entrepreneurship also comprise the industries in which most women-owned businesses are found. In 1994, more than 90 percent of new female-owned businesses were found in six of 22 2-digit industries. These industries include Textiles, Tobacco, Wood Products, Food Products, Furniture and Chemical Products. By 2005, 90 percent of female entrepreneurs were still concentrated in six largely overlapping 2-digit industries. At the opposite end, female shares of 2% or less are evident in industries related to computers, motor vehicles, fabricated metal products, and machinery and equipment. In services, female ownership rates in major cities tend to be higher than overall state averages and exceed 30% in sanitation and education industries.
Among district-level traits, a higher female-to-male sex ratio, an age profile emphasizing working age population, better quality infrastructure, and more stringent labor regulations appear important. The relative entry rate declines with high population density. Education and female literacy rates are not associated with gender differences in manufacturing. The relationship between infrastructure and the female entry share is the most policy relevant. Inadequate infrastructure affects women more than men, perhaps because women often bear a larger share of the time and responsibility for household activities. It is notable that infrastructure access within a district matters. Women face greater constraints in geographic mobility imposed by safety concerns and/or social norms. Better transport infrastructure may alleviate a major constraint for female entrepreneurs accessing markets. Ironically industries related to transportation have the lowest share of women entrepreneurs. Somewhat surprisingly, a higher female entry ratio is not associated with a greater female sex ratio in the district. Stronger female-owned incumbent businesses again predict a greater female entrepreneurship in service industries. Our results support the conclusion that female entrepreneurship in India follows from incumbent female-owned businesses in a districtindustry that encourage subsequent entry. Marshallian channels are important, but they mostly appear to be operating through the district-industry agglomeration for female business owners itself. While our approach does not rule out every potential bias, it does circumvent the most worrisome endogeneity or omitted factors.
A central driver of economic growth over the past century is the increased role of women. This growth via the role of women comes in many forms: better education and health, increased female labor force participation generally, reduced discrimination and wage differentials that encourage greater effort, and improved advancement practices that promote talented women into leadership and managerial roles. Simply put, empowering half of the potential workforce has significant economic benefits beyond promoting gender equality. The infrastructure correlation is the most policy relevant. Inadequate infrastructure affects women in particular ways due to responsibilities regarding household and domestic activities. It is notable that while our within-district infrastructure access is important in predicting female entrepreneurship, access to major cities is not found to influence the gender balance of entrepreneurs.
We find evidence of agglomeration economies in both manufacturing and services, where higher female ownership among incumbent businesses within a district-industry predicts a greater share of subsequent entrepreneurs will be female. Moreover, higher female ownership of local businesses in related industries (e.g., similar labor needs, inputoutput markets) predict greater relative female entry rates even after controlling for the focal district-industry’s conditions. Our analysis suggests that gender-based business networks may play a role in encouraging women’s entrepreneurship. Our analysis is only suggestive in this respect, and points to the need for future research which develops a better understanding regarding the dynamics of gender-based networks, entrepreneurship and productivity. Linkages and spillovers across firms can depend on common traits of business owners, and interactions between the informal (unorganized) and formal (organized) sectors may not be as strong as interactions within each sector. Further research needs to identify how these forces affect small-scale female entrepreneurs and the welfare of women generally. This will be especially helpful for evaluating the performance of industry concentrations in developing economies and guiding appropriate policy actions.
Much recent work emphasizes the role of women in development. India’s economic growth and development depends upon successfully utilizing its workforce. Despite recent economic advances, India’s gender balance for entrepreneurship remains among the lowest in the world. Improving this balance is an important step for India’s development and its achievement of greater economic growth and gender equality.
Q-1. What is the main reason for huge gender disparities in women’s economic participation in India?
1. Female literacy rate which is very low because of social reasons.
2. Substandard education among the women because of their social status.
3. Dearth in infrastructure facilities.
4. Stringent labour regulation laws.
5. Lack of physical strength in women which is required in industries.
Q-2. Which of the following is/ are the reason(s) for district-industry with high rate of incumbent female employment?
(A) High population density.
(B) Stringent labour regulation laws which suppresses Indian entrepreneurship.
(C) Strong open minded male owned incumbent businesses.
1. Only (B).
2. Both (B) and (C).
3. Both (A) and (B).
4. Only (A).
5. All of these.
Q-3. Share of women entrepreneurs is lowest in which of the following industries?
1. Wood industries.
2. Fertilizer industries.
3. Tobacco industries.
4. Fabricated metal products.
5. Transportation industries.
Q-4. Which of the following can help significantly in embolden women entrepreneurs?
1. Lenient labour laws.
2. Better education facilities in districts and more importantly in villages.
3. Giving emphasis to services which are more skill intensive than manufacturing.
4. Business based on gender.
5. Efforts in improving female sex ratio as people prefer boys more than girls.
Q-5. Which of the following is false in context of the passage?
1. Safety concern is one of the reasons for gender disparity.
2. Incumbent female owned businesses encourage more female entrepreneurs.
3. Increase in the female connection in input-output markets increases the share of female entrants.
4. Female literacy rate is not the reasons for gender disparity in manufacturing.
5. None of these.
Q-6. What is the writing style used by the author in this passage?
1. Descriptive
2. Analytical
3. Critical
4. Argumentative
5. Narrative Directions
Q-7. Which of the following is most opposite in meaning as word printed in bold letters as used in context of the passage.
PERSISTENT
1. Tenacious
2. Pertinacious
3. Intermittent
4. Importunate
5. Unremitting
Q-8. Which of the following is most opposite in meaning as word printed in bold letters as used in context of the passage.
INCUMBENT
1. obligatory
2. Unnecessary
3. private
4. Sinister
5. Omnipresent
Q-9. Which of the following is most similar in meaning as word printed in bold letters as used in context of the passage.
CIRCUMVENT
1. Mislead
2. Accede
3. Assent
4. Embrace
5. Pursue
Q-10. Which of the following is most similar in meaning as word printed in bold letters as used in context of the passage.
ALLEVIATE
1. Aggravate
2. Intensify
3. Escalate
4. Assuage
5. Augment
ANSWERS:
1. (3)
2. (1)
3. (5)
4. (4)
5. (5)
6. (2)
7. (3)
8. (2)
9. (1)
10.(4)
