Research Conference: Accelerating Growth for Women Entrepreneurs

You are invited to submit a paper to the Research Conference on Accelerating Growth for Women Entrepreneurs in Developing Economies, jointly organized by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), IDB Invest, and Imperial College London. The conference aims to promote new research and evidence on entrepreneurship, with a focus on women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (WSMEs), start-ups, and micro-enterprises with growth potential. Papers using sex-disaggregated data are particularly encouraged.

In addition to academic sessions, the conference will provide a platform for academics, practitioners, and policymakers to network and discuss the application of research findings to project design and implementation. Policy-oriented sessions will strengthen the connection between research and policy, helping to generate new evidence and define key objectives and milestones for the future. Papers are welcome on the following (non-exhaustive) list of topics:

• Growth and job creation
• Access to finance
• Blended finance, digital finance, and fintech
• Business training and bundled services
• Access to markets and technology
• Enabling environment (policies, laws, regulations, norms)
• Systemic change and the importance of sex-disaggregated data on financing for SMEs
• Finance and entrepreneurship in conflict zones and natural disasters
• Entrepreneurship and time use in the care economy

The symposium will feature a keynote address by Marianne Bertrand, the Chris P. Dialynas Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the Chicago Booth School of Business. Accommodation expenses will be covered for speakers and discussants according to the rules of the CEPR.

>> To submit a paper (full papers only), please use this link. <<