Female Entrepreneurship and Territorial Resilience: Evidence from Italian Local Economies

In recent years, scholarly attention to women’s entrepreneurship has increased alongside a steady rise in female-led business activity. While existing research has extensively explored the relationship between gender and entrepreneurship, recent studies suggest that gender-based inequalities do not simply reduce female entrepreneurial activity, but rather reshape it, shifting it towards more informal and necessity-driven forms. Despite these advances, the role of female entrepreneurship within local economic systems, particularly in peripheral and non-metropolitan areas, remains insufficiently understood, especially in relation to regional resilience dynamics (Martin, 2012; Boschma, 2015). This paper aims to address this gap by examining the contribution of female entrepreneurship to territorial resilience in two Italian provinces south of Rome, Frosinone and Latina. The study adopts a mixed-methods approach based on data provided by the Guglielmo Tagliacarne Institute, combining quantitative indicators with qualitative evidence collected through surveys and focus groups. This approach allows for a more comprehensive understanding of both the structural characteristics and lived experiences of women entrepreneurs in local contexts.