ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT IN NORTH CYPRUS:

A DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE

ZEKI KAAN OZKUL

1543081

(METU NCC DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS)

ECO 465

SEVEN AGIR

January 4, 2010
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CONTENTS

Chapter 1: An Introduction to the area of research………………………………………3-4

Chapter 2: Literature Review…………………………………………………………….5

2.1.1 NORTH CYPRUS: An economic and genderist extrapolation……………………...5-6

2.1.2 NORTH CYPRUS: An entrepreneurial outlook……………………………………7-8

2.1.3 Women entrepreneurship in NORTH CYPRUS: A historical analysis…………….8-9

2.2 Becoming an entrepreneur: A challenging process…………………………………...9

2.2.1 NORTH CYPRUS: The culture & social norms as entrepreneurial barriers………10-11

2.3 Women entrepreneurship in NORTH CYPRUS: A performance evaluation……….11-12

2.3.1 SOCIAL LEARNING: An entrepreneurial socialization process………………..12

2.3.2 HUMAN CAPITAL: A combination of education and experience……………...12-13

2.3.3 NETWORK AFFILIATION: A social networking behavior…………………...13-14

2.3.4 MOTIVATION: A goal-setting and targeting process………………………….14

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Chapter 3: Empirical Evidence………………………………………………………..15

3.1 Methodology………………………………………………………………………..15

Quantitative part...…………………………… ……………………………......16-17

Qualitative part………………………….………………………………..…….18-22

3.2 Findings & Analysis………………………….……………………………………18

3.2.1 Social & Cultural Issues…………………….…………………………………...18

3.2.2 Political Matters…………………………….…………………………………...19

3.2.3 Economic Problems…………………………..………………………………….20

3.2.4 Additional Constraints Regarding Women Entrepreneurship in the region….....21-22

Chapter 4: CONCLUSION……………………………………….………………...22-23

REFERENCE LIST……………………………………………….……………….24-25
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1. INTRODUCTION

After the series of conflicts the world history has witnessed, most scholars

concentrating on the area of development studies agree upon that economic development has

commenced with the termination of the Second World War. Basically, the term economic

development is associated with economic growth, that is, growth of income per capita.

However, this narrow understanding is prone to various critiques due to lack of real progress

regarding life standards in developing countries. The new approach link the concept of

welfare to economic development. HDI [Human Development Index] which measures long-

habity, level of education, adult literacy was developed by UNDP [United Nations

Development Programme] during this period. The weakness of this approach was the

negligence of environmental and ecological elements. Another approach to development is

the measure of happiness, in other words, GHI [Gross Happiness Index]. According to the

theory, even in countries where income levels are tantamount, there are happiness

differentials.

Considering all the above distinct points of view to economic development, it is not

difficult to point out that the role of women plays a vital role for sustainable development in a

particular society as the UNDP Administrator Helen Clark also emphasizes in her words:

‘Development cannot be achieved if fifty percent of the population is excluded from the

opportunities it brings’. Gender which is the term often used to symbolize women has long

been the focal point of development research. The consideration of main problems which

most women expose throughout development process has significantly grown in 1970s. One

of the most important areas of concern of gender and development studies is known to be the

empowerment approach. According to Jo Rowlands, this fundamentally refers to ‘a broad

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development process that enables people to gain self-confidence and self-esteem, so allowing

both men and women to actively participate in development decision-making.’ (Momsen,

2004)

As can be understood from Rowland’s statement, this approach also aims to shed light

upon the obstacles preventing women from active dedication to work and increase their both

organizational and entrepreneurial skills. The word entrepreneurship is simply defined as

follows: ‘ a process of identifying business opportunity, planning to exploit it by creating a

new company or division, gathering resources to set it up, and evolving management styles

and structures to achieve rapid growth and profitability’. (Tiffin, 2004) In fact, the

importance of the problems such as investment disability and lack of managerial skills for

economic development are highlighted by some development theorists like Hirschman.

According to his claim, the need for such skills should be recognized for potential economic

development in developing countries.

What can be inferred from Hirschman’s critique and above facets is that, the thrust to

create new economic entities is a fundamental requirement for consistent social welfare, thus,

economic development. Nevertheless, it can be said that many women are subject to number

of issues and fail to contribute to development process for some reason. Accordingly, it is not

coincidence that numerous development theorists and their studies target developing countries

where the majority of these economic problems are present. As a matter of fact, this paper

will also try to examine women’s empowerment and entrepreneurship in the North Cyprus

and reveal their potential barriers with respect to economic development process. Throughout

the course of our investigation, a particular attention will also be paid to the Lefke-Güzelyurt

region with an empirical research conducted on the women perpetuating successful business

lives in the area.

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2. LITERATURE REVĐEW

It is worth mentioning that very limited research focusing on women’s empowerment

and entrepreneurship have been conducted in North Cyprus. In this regard, I will attempt to

divide this part of my study into three fundamental segments to approach from various angles

so as to clarify the mainstream views on the issue. Hence, I will begin with providing brief

historical background information about the island to understand the development process of

entrepreneurial activities with respect to women. Afterwards, I will raise the question: ‘Why

do people start a business?’ and, indicate cultural and social norms which, scholars believe,

have profound impact on the decision of starting a business in North Cyprus. Ultimately, I

will undermine the main elements shaping the work performance of women entrepreneurs in

the Cypriot business environment.

2.1.1 NORTH CYPRUS: an economic and genderist

extrapolation

It would be appropriate to note that the de facto division of the Cypriot island had

serious repercussions for the North region. To put it differently, such portioning brought in

inevitable economic consequences that are still problematic and affect contemporary

developments in North Cyprus. One of the most widely-known issues is that, the political

non-recognition and international embargoes harm the trade balance of the island seriously.

That is, the North Cyprus has been tremendously giving trade deficit (import>export) each

year. According to 2003&2004 statistics, the net exports are estimated to be -427 and -791.5

million $, respectively (Yorucu, 2008).

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The main reason why I initially attract the attention to Cypriot trade relations is that,

some economists believe that mercantilist trade theory is still alive. (Appleyard, Field &

Cobb, 2008). According to mercantilism, exports create jobs while imports lead to

unemployment. Thus, a country’s exports should always be greater than its imports (NX>0).

Depending on this theory and statistics mentioned previously, the North Cyprus ought to be

amply rewarded, in other words, suffer from unemployment. Not surprisingly, considering the

low productivity and unequal gender opportunities, such economic relations would harshly

damage women entrepreneurial activities in the island.

Hence, beside international trade theory, we should also take into account the labor

market of the North Cyprus to reach tangible results about how intensively women occupy a

place in the market. One of the significant findings is that, despite gradual economic growth

between the years 2004 and 2007, there has been a low supply of labor compared to its

demand [Ls<Ld] in North Cyprus. (Güven-Lisaniler, 2009). According to State Planning

Organisation survey made between 2004&2008, it has been recorded that women labor force

participation rate fell from %39.2 to %36.2. while women employment rate decreased from

%33.4 to %31.1. The survey, further, points out that unemployment rate has significantly

increased from %14.9 to %25.8 in terms of youth women population. However, the change in

youth men unemployment rate is only around 6% which almost equals to half of the increase

in youth women unemployment ratio.

What one can be inferred from above explanations is that, the statistical data, indeed,

verify the accuracy of mercantilist trade theory proposition in spite of some objections. As the

theory proposes, North Cyprus suffers from trade deficit, accordingly, unemployment.

Moreover, as the above information shows, women are having more difficulties compared to

their male counterparts. Undoubtedly, we can reach the conclusion that, women are exposed
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more to these perceived problems. Consequently, the presence of this inequality and trade

performance barricade the entrepreneurial opportunities that women would make use of.

2.1.2 NORTH CYPRUS: An entrepreneurial outlook

As mentioned in earlier sections, 1974 intervention has always been influential in

many respects. Specifically, separation of the island has had penetrating effects on the

operation of business life and entrepreneurial activities running in the North side of the island.

According to the research carried out by Howells and Skoko (2009), the Government of

TRNC [Turkish Republic of North Cyprus] has taken immediate precautions to avoid

unemployment, after 1974. In that respect, the government has offered well-paid jobs and

attractive salaries to pool people into public sector.

Hence, privatization has been neglected. That is, private sector has suffered from lack

of attention and face to the problem of rising opportunities in public sector. Howells and

Skoko (2009) also points out that the entrepreneurs have been unable to access the

information required to maintain and evolve their business. Therefore, the North Cypriot

government has become an obstacle to entrepreneurs to expand the private sector in the North

Cyprus. In fact, the State Planning Organization Household Employment Survey (2004)

pictures the gravity of the situation for the entrepreneurs in North Cyprus.

Size Employees Number Enterprises % Enterprises

Micro and Small 0-10 9,130 99.30

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Medium 11-15 48 0.50

Large 16< 18 0.20

Source: State Planning Organization (2004)

As can be seen from the previous table, large size companies only constitute 0.20% of

the total enterprises which is dramatic. Similarly, medium size businesses just occupy 0.50%

of the market. The remaining portion which is 99.3% dominated by the microenterprises.

Obviously, the results are unsatisfactory because the aggregate enterprises operating in North

Cyprus were only 9196. Contrary to North Cyprus, in Turkey 2007, the number of newly

opened enterprises were 55350 (Turkish Statistical Institute, 2008) which is six times greater

than the number of total enterprises in North Cyprus 2004. That is, the statistics shows that

entrepreneurial activities in the North Cypriot market are very weak and limited. Therefore, it

would not be inaccurate to assume that business environment and entrepreneurs do not have

much to offer and they are not enough efficient and numerous to contribute to welfare of the

society and potential future economic developments in North Cyprus.

2.1.3 Women entrepreneurship in NORTH CYPRUS: A

historical analysis

Between the war years (1960-1974), women entrepreneurship activities were

ordinarily minimal because of the political oppression and chaos. According to research by

Jenkins and Katırcıoğlu (2009), only small circle of women involved in the establishment of

new economic entities which are family owned business. The study also reveals that, at that

time, Turkey was exporting crystal and gold commodities which are highly demanded by

Cypriot women because the sale of these items created income for businesswomen to
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perpetuate their lives in North Cyprus. After the war period, the number of female

entrepreneurs significantly increased. (Jenkins & Katırcıoğlu, 2009). Considering the

contemporary North Cyprus, it has been recorded that, female entrepreneurs show themselves

in sectors such as boutique, beautycare, hair-dressing, accessories, flower shop, traveler

agencies, cosmetics, junior kids wear, stationery shops, markets, shoes or hand craft business,

and very few of them involved in manufacturing, construction or architecture sector. (Jenkins

& Katırcıoğlu, 2009).

2.2 Becoming an entrepreneur: a challenging process

So far, I believe we have pictured the position of women and entrepreneurship in

North Cyprus. Nonetheless, we have not paid enough attention to how women become

entrepreneurs. On that score, I would like to come within the framework of entrepreneurship

theory and raise the following question: Why do we become entrepreneurs? According to

Audretsch, Keilbach and Lehman (2006),

The recognition of new opportunities combined with purposeful action in

establishing a new firm is at the heart of entrepreneurship. The focus of
entrepreneurship literature in general, and entrepreneurship theory in
particular, has been on the cognitive process by which individuals
recognize entrepreneurial opportunities and then decide to actualize
them by starting a new business or organization.

In the light of above indentation, we would urge that when the occasion arises, entrepreneurs

tend to take advantage of the circumstances in the market. However, conditions may not be as

easy as the theory proposes for women entrepreneurs. Especially, women entrepreneurship is a

challenging process in North Cyprus. In their research, Howells and Skoko (2009) point out

that culture and social norms are very influential indicators shaping women’s decision of in

which sector to establish a new business formation. In other words, these elements are

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considered to be acute constraints for possible women entrepreneurial behavior. For this reason,

it would be useful to make an effort on understanding the North Cypriot culture and social

norms in order to figure out the main problems lying at the heart of women entrepreneurial

hardship to better master the subject of women entrepreneurship in North Cyprus.

2.2.1 NORTH CYPRUS: the culture & social norms as

entrepreneurial barriers

It is apparent that today’s Cyprus belongs to a very rich culture dating back to 1571

and 1878 Ottoman and British Empire times, respectively. (Meskell, 2002) The former

sovereignty of these empires still seems to have an impact on the Cypriot culture. For

instance, there was patrimonial monarchy in Ottoman Empire period and women were

excluded from such inheritance. When we look at North Cyprus today, one can observe that

women are still kept in the background of many disciplines such as business even though the

segregation between the opposite genders is ameliorating. In her book, Cynthia Cockburn

(2004) states that current business environment is mainly occupied by the masculine culture

due to political segmentation in North Cyprus.

On the other hand, women’s primary role dictated by the society culture was

marriage, giving a birth especially on male babies to maintain the family presence, and

housekeeping. (Cockburn, 2004). That is, there was a strict line between men and women

regarding their societal roles. In fact, even today, working women are expected that their

business lives do not hinder their responsibilities at home as housewives. (Karen and Skoko,

2009). One can also sense differences resulting from culture between men and women in

social and business lives in North Cyprus. In this regard, Karen and Skoko (2009) argue that,

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In daily life, outside the auspices of industry or commercial trade, men

and women do not mix except within the family home. Women only have
social contact with the men from their immediate family, and even then
possibly only within the home or for a social event. It is forbidden in many
families for young girls to be allowed to roam freely, and arranged
marriages are still popular. An unmarried girl is only allowed to be seen
in the company of a young man when she is officially engaged to him.

Furthermore, it is popular in North Cyprus that women are supported financially by their

families in case of any hardships they may live through. (Cockburn, 2004). This financial aid is

also rewarded to women not to bow their heads in the face husband dominance at home.

(Cockburn, 2004). However, Cockburn (2004) indicates that despite the fact that such attempt

decreases the dependency of women over their bread-takers, that is, husbands; the dependency

between these women and their fathers becomes stronger. To put the matter in a different way,

the power of women is not strengthened much in the society with the support provided by their

families because they again become dependent to men-their fathers-in that case.

2.3 Women entrepreneurship in NORTH CYPRUS: a

performance evaluation

I suppose that I have given considerable emphasis on external factors such as trade

relations, labor market, culture and norms, and entrepreneurship theory which have relatively

great effects on women during severe entrepreneurial process in North Cyprus. I think these

problems may be reduced if only the North Cyprus government and society agree upon that

these issues must be dealt with to give way to female entrepreneurs. What my point is that,

women solely may not be capable of solving mentioned problems so far. Yet, I am now

turning the attention to the part in which women have the opportunity to strengthen their

power. This part will be about the fundamental factors changing the business performance of
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women at work. Accordingly, I will briefly cover four main elements like social learning,

human capital, network affiliation, motivations and goals in the light of the research

developed by Jenkins and Katırcıoğlu (2009). Their study signals that these inputs are

extremely important for women wishing to provide premium quality of entrepreneurial

service and gain a foothold and survive in business life.

2.3.1 SOCIAL LEARNING: An entrepreneurial socialization

process

Social learning is a never ending process which actually starts from very young ages.

According to Rae and Carswell (2000), we learn from others such as our parents, teachers,

mentors, business owners, employees. In fact, this cluster can be extended infinitely.

Apparently, social relationship highly contributes to learning process whose volume is

changing with respect to intensity and variety of the interaction involved in different

environments. In the light of this framework, we can therefore see entrepreneurial learning as

a continuing social process of individuals learning from their own and others’ experiences,

developing their own personal theories, and having been successful in applying these

theories, enabling others to adapt and learn from them. ( Rae and Carswell, 2000) To be more

specific, some scholars such as Scherer at al. (1989) report that individuals whose parents are

coming from an entrepreneurial background perform much better and more effectively

compared to those that lack such inadvertent experience. Thus, one can conclude that social

learning is one of the very important factors affecting entrepreneurial performance both for

men and women.

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2.3.2 HUMAN CAPITAL: A combination of education

and experience

Not only in business but also in any aspects of life, we all learn from what we have

already experienced. However, educational experiences, no doubt, are always considered to

be the most valuable ones because they provide necessary foundation for later performance in

working life. Also, Dolinsky at al. (1993) point out that woman with inadequate educational

support may come across possible human capital barriers which eventually narrow the area

where they conduct their business. Particularly, considering the case of developing countries

such as North Cyprus, the role of education and related experience seems to be a sine qua non

condition for the success of women entrepreneurship. For instance, Lerner at al. (1997)

discovered in a study that the effect of human capital is found not to be a distinguishing factor

in terms of women entrepreneurs’ performance in Israel. They argue that, the main reason for

such finding is that, there are minute educational differences among women since Israel is a

developed country. However, they, further, assert that it would be unexpected that such result

would apply to developing countries in accordance to the research done in these areas. In

short, human capital is a stimulating and pushing factor affecting the performance of women

entrepreneurs in developing countries as the above studies undermine.

2.3.3 NETWORK AFFILIATION: A social networking behavior

Moreover, based on network affiliation theory, Jenkins and Katırcıoğlu (2009) say that

expanding networks, use of consulting service, mentoring, membership in women’s

associations are crucial variables for women entrepreneurship performance. Indeed, most

scholars agree with the statement because their research findings also support and confirm the

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significance of these elements. To illustrate, again in the case of Israel, Lerner at al. (1997)

marked that,

Membership in a women's organization had a highly significant effect on

the profitability of Israeli women-owned businesses. Women belonging to
such organizations reported higher profitability than women who did not.
Similarly, the use of a number of advisors was linked to better
performance in terms of higher revenues; however, use of a number of
network affiliations was negatively linked to revenues of the business,
personal income, and size in terms of number of employees.

Hence, as can be understood from the previous finding, network affiliation is an influencing

factor on women performance as an entrepreneur. It is one of the key stages helping them to

launch their own businesses. Also, when we think of North Cyprus, there are several

institutions such as Turkish-Cypriot Women’s Council and Turkish-Cypriot Association of

University Women from which women can benefit at every stage of their entrepreneurial

process.

2.3.4 MOTIVATION: A goal-setting and targeting process

Another important factor affecting the performance of female entrepreneurs is

recorded to be motivation which is resulting from goal-setting process. According to George

and Jones (2005), a goal is simply defined as follows: What an individual is trying to

accomplish through his or her behaviour and actions. Thus, women first need to spend some

time on deciding what they wish to achieve and then focus on identifying the most effective

types of goals which will accordingly bring high levels of motivation and business

performance. Moreover, it is reported that it would be better to intrinsically motivate to the

job that one does because if so, people are willing more to make new contributions, struggle

with challenges, and sacrifice their full potential at work. (George & Jones, 2005).

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In addition to the theory mentioned above, when we evaluate the studies conducted in

different parts of the world, motivation has significant effect on the conduct of a business and

entrepreneurs’ performance. Furthermore, it is revealed by some studies that minimal

performance differentials have been identified between man and women regarding their

motivation levels. (Lerner, 1997).

3. EMPRICAL EVIDENCE

As mentioned in earlier stages, unsatisfactory number of research has been conducted

on women living in North Cyprus so far to reveal their potential problems with respect to their

business life and performance. As a matter of fact, this study is the first empirical research on

the entrepreneurial activities of the Turkish Cypriot female entrepreneurs in Lefke-Güzelyurt

region. In this regard, the empirical part of this study aims to identify the major problems of

the women entrepreneurs which may restrict the survival of their management life, or

constrain possible future entrepreneurial behavior from women in the targeted area.

3.1 METHODOLOGY

A mixed methodology that comprises both quantitative and qualitative data is utilized.

The first-quantitative- part of the research included five multiple choice questions voluntarily

answered by 10 women entrepreneurs in the region. Similarly, the second-qualitative-part was

about an interview including ten open-ended questions which were delivered to the same

women involved in the first part. The participants to both parts were chosen randomly with

their approval and authorization to obtain information as reliable as possible. The interviews

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were held in Turkish language. Also, the duration of each of interview took between 10 to 20

minutes, approximately, at the participant’s workplace.

The quantitative part of the research was useful in the sense that it provided

demographic information such as age, marital status, presence of children and education level

about the women entrepreneurs in the region. Indeed, the demographic findings are presented

on the following two tables.

TABLE 1: DEMOGRAPHIC BACKGROUND OF WOMEN PARTICIPANTS

From the statistics above, a typical women entrepreneur in Lefke-Güzelyurt region is

married and has children. Moreover, the largest age category represents a left-skewed normal

distribution (assuming that left side of the distribution starts from age 0, mean is 30, right side

of the distribution represents samples whose age ranges between 30 and above) which means

most women are 40 and above years old.

TABLE 2: EDUCATIONAL BAKGROUND

Education Number %

primary/secondary school 2 20.0

high-school 6 60.0

university graduates 2 20.0

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master/Phd None 0.0

The demographic data in terms of educational level shows that most women, (% 60),

are graduate of high school Unfortunately, out of 10 participants, only 2 women earned Ba,

Bsc or related degrees. Furthermore, none of them reported higher graduate degrees such as

Ma, Msc or Phd. In short, most women which are about 80% (primary + secondary +high

school) neglected superior educational level.

On the other hand, the table below demonstrates the distribution of the business choice

preferred by the women entrepreneurs contacted. As can be seen on TABLE 3, many of the

women (7 out of 10) prefer to serve in service sectors such as travel agency, hairdressing, rent

a car, restaurant and so on. According to the table, the most striking outcome is that only one

women involved in manufacturing process and reported that she owns assembly line shop

where her workers produce the commodities (outside of Güzelyurt) which she sells in

hometown Güzelyurt. Moreover, it was also reported that, two more women running clothing

shops took part in industrial production. The TABLE 4, also, points out that, women only

operate small or microenterprises which contain less than 10 workers.

TABLE 3: BUSINESS SECTOR PREFERENCES

Business Sector Number %

travel agency 3 30.0

clothing 2 20.0

white goods 1 10.0

restaurant 1 10.0

Clew 1 10.0

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hairdressing 1 10.0

rent a car 1 10.0

TABLE 4: SIZE OF THE BUSINESSES OWNED

Size Employees Number Enterprises % Enterprises

Micro and Small 0-10 10 100.0

Medium 11-15 None None

Large 16< None None

3.2 FINDINGS & ANALYSIS

In this qualitative part, the responses of the women entrepreneurs are analyzed and the

most frequent and similar answers are considered to be more important compared to less

mentioned ones. Also, I would like to note that I divide this part into four main components to

better realize the problems of women entrepreneurs in Güzelyurt, North Cyprus. In this sense,

I will basically analyze the responses provided from sociological and cultural, political and

economic perspectives. One more part will also be occupied by additional issues concerning

with the difficulties of women entrepreneurship in North Cyprus in the light of interviews

conducted on the women.

.3.2.1 SOCIAL & CULTURAL ISSUES

According to the interviews, women entrepreneurship is constrained by some social

norms and culture in Güzelyurt region. One of the main and common issues reported is that,

there are still husbands who confine their wives to their house and not allow them to work

outside of home. Their only work is taking care of household matters such as cleaning,

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cooking, etc… In addition to this, presence of children is considered to be another major

problem for women’s entrepreneurship. In fact, as indicated in quantitative part, most

interviewees own at least a child and say that they devote considerable amount of time on

their children to keep track of their usual needs and wants. The last problem regarding social

and cultural aspect is that, Güzelyurt public is believed to be very traditional and dependent

upon their values and norms. One interviewee claimed that: ‘if a woman had lunch, drank

alcohol, smoked cigarettes at a restaurant with her female friends at a restaurant in

Güzelyurt, this would not be welcomed by the society.’

3.2.2 POLITICAL MATTERS

There are fundamentally three major problems that women emphasized during

interviews regarding politics. The first issue and the most interesting finding regarding this

area is that, there is extreme anger and prejudice against UBP (ruling party) government from

women. According to their claim, the government discriminate people in the area. For

instance, if a woman did not support, agree with UBP government, its ideology and

statements, it would be less likely that this woman finds a job in both public and private

sector. Accordingly, one woman urged that: ‘Both my son-who holds bachelor and master

degree from Turkey- and I were laid off by UBP government. For this reason, I had to start-

up this business under tough circumstances.’ Women, further, note that UBP government

regarded Güzelyurt as inferior region. According to their beliefs, this leaded to the decrease of

number of congressmen from Güzelyurt region from 7 to 6 in the last political elections.

In addition, women believe that Güzelyurt municipal borough takes no interest on

craftswomen and tradeswomen. The management is problematic, constantly causes problems.

To illustrate, a woman stated that ‘if you wish to launch a business in a sector which has
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never previously established in Güzelyurt area, then you will probably go through unbearable

and exhausting process to obtain the required license and authorization from the municipal.’

Another and the most well-known problem is the political uncertainty of the Güzelyurt

region. Women say that people are afraid of living in the area because they do not want to be

obligated to abandon their places again. For this reason, people also do not want to start

business here. One woman further approached to the issue very interestingly and said that:

‘The government has never invested on the region, and now, the South started to think that

Güzelyurt belongs to them and, claim for the region as if their own territory’.

3.2.3 ECONOMIC PROBLEMS

Based on interviews conducted, three main problems are highly repeated by women

entrepreneurs with respect to economics discipline. The first economic problem that they state is

the lack of domestic demand in the market. Women argue that the fact that the variety of places,

goods and services are very limited and, nowadays, a daily visit to the South Cyprus is possible

for North Cypriots decrease their sales dramatically. They also report that people in Güzelyurt go

to larger cities such as Kyrenia, Nicosia for shopping because these cities have tons of great

options to offer compared to Güzelyurt. Thus, interviews pointed out that shops in Güzelyurt are

less demanded by the domestic burgers.

Other economic problems that women complain about are raising taxes, high interest and

public utility rates (such aselectrics, gas, and water usage). In interviews, 3 out of 10 women

adduce that if their shops did not belong to them, in other words, they were not the owners of

their capital, their business would not survive. According to them, the government imposes high

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level of tax rates and their electricity/water bills are very high. Since these women also deal out

low sales, their profit decreases enormously because of the problems mentioned above.

The last problematic economic issue that women emphasize is the lack of tourism in the

area. Despite the fact that, North Cypriot economy depends upon tourism mostly, Güzelyurt,

unfortunately, underdogs with respect to tourism activities. In addition to the tourism industry,

women urge that, Güzelyurt suffers from the absence of diversified field of business and

commercial operations, in general. Therefore, some precautions need to be taken to expand

sectors and the market in Güzelyurt. This is the only way that economy may be picking up again,

according to the women reports.

3.2.4 ADDITIONAL CONSTRAINTS REGARDING WOMEN

ENTRPRENEURSHIP IN THE REGION

In the context of North Cypriot women entrepreneurs’ problems, the interviews also

revealed four additional problems which are important. An interesting feature from the

interviews was the lack of talent, in other words, human capital. The interviewees claimed

that there is shortage of skilled labor in Güzelyurt. A traveler agent said that: ‘When I hire an

employee, I always have to start over because new comers to our company do not have any

knowledge or experience in disciplines like accounting, finance. Thus, I always have to teach

them to learn how things operate within the company.’

Another related problem is that, women entrepreneurs complained about difficulty of

finding an employee and its cost to them due to public sector offerings, during interviews.

Accordingly, they said that it is very difficult to find labors in the market because youth

population is very low and the rest do not accept wages we offer as they claim that they are

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low. In fact, these women accept that public sector provides well-paid jobs with fringe

benefits which they are not capable of offering. Therefore, women reported that we

sometimes have to bring labors from Turkey. However, this is also costly because we do not

only pay them for their services but also their accommodation, insurance and residence of

permit.

Another interesting finding pointed out is that, women operating business in Güzelyurt

area have never become a part of any women association in North Cyprus. I previously

mentioned about the importance of such institutions for women success. However, none of

them reported any attempt, or, willingness of involving in activities that these women

associations organize in the future because they claim that they are pinched of time.

The last important point that I realized during interview is that, more than half of the

women see no hope for the region unless necessary precautions are taken by the responsible

institutions like the government, Güzelyurt municipal and others. For instance, when I remind

the recent developments such as establishment of new universities, METU NCC, and

accordingly, new and young people are coming to the city, in the region, they still seem to

have been unsatisfied. Accordingly, one woman reported that: ‘METU NCC is a new campus

and we are very happy to have new people around the city. However the problem is that

students are not coming to the town because they are able to reach everything they want

within the campus boundaries. The campus is so withdrawn inside its spot. Also, there is 6

km. distance between Güzelyurt and the campus and students are subject to payment for

shuttle service which is absurd. If we want to encourage students, this service should be

provided cost-free.

4. CONCLUSION
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Based on the primary data collected from 10 women entrepreneurs, typical

characteristics of businesswomen that run successful business in Güzelyurt area were

analyzed. In addition to that, potential barriers or constraints that affect their business

performance were examined. It has been recorded that average age of a female entrepreneurs

is in-between 40 and 50 and %70 of them have children. Also, a typical female entrepreneur

in Güzelyurt is a high-school graduate and maintains a business in service sector regarding

their choice of business formation.

With respect to social learning theory, it was found that the theory is associated to the

business success of women significantly as the half of female entrepreneurs interviewed

started their business with the support of their family members such as father, sibling or

husband. In terms of social affiliation theory, not any attachment was identified which is

problematic. Regarding human capital theory, a strong link between education and business

performance was recorded.

Another important finding is the fact that local units such as the government,

municipal fail to contribute to female-owned business in the area. Accordingly, it was

recorded that the political uncertainty of Güzelyurt restricts the possible investments from

women in the area. Also, regarding economic problems, issues such as shortage of skilled and

young labor, low productivity and sales level were figured out. Moreover, in terms of culture

and social norms, it was pointed out that the local public is persistent about the severity of

cultural rules, values, especially, when these elements are applied to women. Lastly, it was

observed that women entrepreneurs are not very hopeful about the future of Güzelyurt region

with respect its business live and developments because of the available problems mentioned

in this paper.

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In conclusion, entrepreneurship and women’s empowerment in North Cyprus is a very

young, lively and productive topic for future research proposals. The findings of conducted

research about this issue sometimes draw different conclusions in different parts of the island.

As a matter of fact, very limited number of paper has been produced and published so far.

Apparently, the issue is very problematic and controversial. Therefore, future research into

this issue has a lot discover.

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