Dodging the glass ceiling? Networks and the new wave of women entrepreneurs

Openings of women-owned businesses have radically accelerated recently. Thi s paper explores the causes and results of this phenomenon. Noting the pred ictive weaknesses of the canonical neoclassical perspective, an extended in stitutional framework incorporating the impact of male-dominated networks s eems to better explain women's situations in both the traditional and entre preneurial labor markets. Theoretical and empirical evidence points to the paradoxically obstructive role of information networks as the source of wom en's market difficulties. In the light of this, the paper considers possibl e motivations for the continued influx of women to entrepreneurship and its potential implications for women's economic status. (C) 2001 Elsevier Scie nce Inc. All rights reserved.