Examining Micro and Small Enterprises from a Gender Perspective in Urban Cambodia

Micro and small enterprises (MSEs) provide livelihood opportunities for a large population, especially for the poor. Participation in MSEs depends on the individuals’ and households’ financial, human, physical, natural, and social capitals. As the literature on developing countries has found that men and women have differential access to and ownership of productive resources, this study uses the Cambodia Socio-Economic Survey 2019–2020 to examine factors influencing participation in MSEs and the associated gender differences in urban Cambodia. The current study’s findings suggest that assets, education, and access to credit are crucial drivers of participation in MSEs. Applying Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition showed a gender gap in MSE participation, with women owning more MSEs than men. However, the differences in participation vary across sectors. While women have higher participation rates in retail and wholesale, restaurants, and smaller enterprises, men are more likely to participate in manufacturing, construction, and repairs. Another crucial finding of this study is that a large proportion of men-owned enterprises fall under the petty trading categories (i.e., the lowest stratum of the MSEs), indicating that gender policies also need to consider poorer and less skilled sections of society. Government policies to promote the development of MSEs should focus on two aspects: (i) skills training to enable women to also be equally able to participate in manufacturing, construction, and repairs sectors; and (ii) improved access to credit, so both men and women can participate in enterprises requiring bigger investments