Business and family livelihood performance of Bangladeshi pond aquaculture entrepreneurs: Do business networks and entrepreneurial orientation matter?

Abstract

The model between business networks, entrepreneurial orientation (EO), business performance and family livelihood in challenging contexts is yet an underexploited potential for addressing poverty and its roots. Adopting theoretical perspectives of social capital and EO, this study aims to provide new insights into how entrepreneurs in a challenging business environment can benefit from business networks and EO to induce business and family livelihood performance. The results of the structural equation model on data collected from Bangladeshi pond aquaculture entrepreneurs suggest that (i) business networks positively influence the EO; (ii) next to financial capital and business experience, both business networks, and EO positively influence the business performance, while obstacles (e.g., political instability and high-and-volatile price of fish-feeds) in business environment exert a negative influence; (iii) both EO and business performance stimulate the family livelihood; (iv) the EO positively mediates the impact of business networks on business performance; and (v) the influence of EO on family livelihood is positively mediated by business performance. This study enhances aquaculture entrepreneurship, antecedents of EO and performance literature by offering theoretical, empirical, and policy-oriented implications.