A growth model for understanding female-owned enterprises

Numerous policy initiatives designed to support the growth of female-owned enterprises in the developing economies have repeatedly failed to achieve their objectives. Research recognizes the lack of contextualized growth models for defining female-owned enterprises in such contexts as the main issue. Thus, and drawing from our qualitative data, we propose a growth model to account for the business development activities of female-owned enterprises from a developing economy perspective. Through analyzing our qualitative data, it emerged that money (access and utilization), management (nonformal education and experience), and market (customer intelligence) were direct determinants of the growth trajectories of female-owned enterprises. Motherhood (household and family), meso- (membership of professional networks and social learning), and macro-environment (sociocultural and economic issues) indirectly influenced their growth by mediating women’s access and utilization of the aforementioned direct determinants. From that, we offer recommendations for practitioners including public authorities and key actors within the entrepreneurial ecosystem that provide the support infrastructure for female-owned enterprises in a developing economy

The impact of national social capital on business creation rates in the formal vs. informal sectors

Purpose: Through utilising social capital as an overarching concept, the purpose of this article is to investigate cross-country rates of business formation in the formal-vs-informal sectors. Plus, empirically assess the impact of social capital constructs on the national rates of entrepreneurship. Design/Methodology/Approach: Adopting a regression-oriented methodology, Partial Least Squares, the study used a sample comprising 50 nations. National rates of registered and non-registered business creation were utilised as endogenous variables. To determine the indigenous variables, constructs of social capital were measured which is consistent with the World Value Survey (WWS). Findings: The results of this study show that in the formal and the informal sectors, social networking enables business creation with varying levels of impact. It establishes that: institutional trust has a negative effect on informal business creation and a positive effect on business registration; interpersonal trust drives entrepreneurship in the informal sector but has less impact on business registration; norms of trustworthiness are related to business registration than informal business creation. Implications: The findings of this research have theoretical and practical implications. They stimulate academic debate on the application of social capital constructs at the national level. The indications that social capital promotes business formation in both the informal and formal sectors can influence entrepreneurship policy development in many countries. Originality/value : The originality of the results of this study lies in how it conceptualises social capital as having direct impact on business creation in the informal vs. formal sector. Thus, the findings elevated the conceptualisation of social capital to the national level thereby enhancing knowledge on the entrepreneurship process as well as developmental economics

Financing women entrepreneurship in the developing world: An fsQCA analysis of informal financing schemes

This study utilises a configurational approach to understand the informal financing mechanisms inherent in women entrepreneurship. It draws on observations involving 200 Nigerian women entrepreneurs to study the antecedents that underlie informal financing in women entrepreneurship. Six antecedents, including firm age, size, entrepreneur’s age, marital status, educational level, and industry alongside Ajo––an informal financing scheme are studied. Using fuzzy sets, the study deduces six configurations depicting the use of this informal financing scheme in women entrepreneurship. FsQCA analysis reveals how collectively these antecedents form six configurations related to Ajo. Contrary to the bank–firm theory of formal financial relationships, the study uncovers how educated women entrepreneurs also used Ajo for entrepreneurship purposes. We contend that simplistic predictions formed around a single antecedent must make way for a configurational approach whereby a set of conditions must be in place to account for informal financing in women entrepreneurship especially, in the developing world