INFLUENCE OF CULTURAL PRACTICES ON SOCIAL SUPPORT OF FEMALE ENTREPRENEURS' STARTUPS

Abstract

Social support of female entrepreneurs' startups is critical for the sustainable development of female entrepreneurship in a country. This study empirically tests how nine cultural practices, including performance orientation, uncertainty avoidance, in-group collectivism, power distance, gender egalitarianism, humane orientation, institutional collectivism, future orientation and assertiveness, impact social support of female entrepreneurs' startups across different countries. For the period between 2009 and 2012, sixty-two countries were analyzed using longitudinal data with hierarchical linear modeling techniques. The empirical findings demonstrate three cultural practices (power distance, uncertainty avoidance and future orientation) play major roles in explaining the variation of social support of female entrepreneurs. In contrast, the effects of cultural practices of human orientation, institutional collectivism, in-group collectivism, assertiveness, gender egalitarianism and performance orientation are negligible. Further moderation tests show that a country's macroeconomic environment significantly moderates the relationship between the cultural practice of uncertainty avoidance and social support of female entrepreneurs' startups. The findings provide practical guidance to policymakers on how to develop robust ecosystems with strong cultural practices that enhance social support of female entrepreneurs.