What Factors do Motivate Entrepreneurial Participation in Handloom Sector? An Alderfer's ERG Theory Approach to Women Weavers of West Bengal

Abstract: This study primarily aims to detect the motivating factors behind women’s entrepreneurial participation in handloom sector having prominent women participation under the clause of Alderfer’s ERG theory and to explore the chance of women entrepreneurial participation considering the motivating factors. To meet the objectives, the present cross-sectional study selected randomly 430 respondents of handloom sector of Bankura and East Burdwan districts of West Bengal. With Principal Component Analysis (PCA), the study detected four motivational factors behind entrepreneurial participation linking with the three components of Alderfer’s ERG theory, i.e., Existence: ‘Fulfilment of Basic need and Security’, Relatedness: ‘Social Commitment and Recognition’ and Growth: ‘Professional Acumen’ and ‘Self-Development’. With Binary Logistic Regression, the study confirmed more chance of women entrepreneurial participation in Handloom sector for ‘Existence Need’. The study proves its policy implication by addressing the gender-specific opinions on the factors motivating entrepreneurial participation which get linkage with labour retention. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Motivation, Binary Logistic Regression, ERG Theory JEL Classification Number: J16, L26, M13