Social and Economic Aspetcs of Women's Entrepreneurship Development in Central Asian countries

In Central Asian countries, women's entrepreneurial activity is gradually increasing, but its development is accompanied by a number of institutional, economic and socio-cultural constraints. The purpose of this study is to assess the level of influence of social, economic and institutional variables on the level of entrepreneurial activity of women in Central Asian countries. The empirical database covers data for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan for 2015-2024, based on information from the World Bank, reports from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, the Global Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum and national statistical agencies. The results of the study showed a steady increase in the proportion of women among entrepreneurs in all the countries under consideration: in Kazakhstan, the indicator increased from 40.1% in 2015 to 46.5% in 2024, in Kyrgyzstan — from 37.2% to 43.1%, in Uzbekistan — from 28.7% to 38.2%, in Tajikistan — from 22.5% to 29.3%.. The results of the panel regression showed a statistically significant positive impact of women's labor force participation (β = 0.38; p = 0.002), Internet penetration (β = 0.29; p = 0.005), access to credit (β = 0.34; p = 0.009) and GDP per capita (β = 0.21; p = 0.017) for the development of women's entrepreneurship; the explanatory power of the model was R2 = 0.64. The results show that Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan demonstrate the highest level of women's involvement in entrepreneurial activity, while Uzbekistan and Tajikistan maintain a more pronounced gender gap in entrepreneurial activity. The results of the study can be used in the development of programs to support small and medium-sized businesses and gender equality policies in Central Asian countries.

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