Key factors underlying innovation in the context of female entrepreneurship: Opportunity perceptions, digitalisation, and economic policy

The COVID-19 captured entrepreneurs by surprise, and shocked in the first months of the pandemic, especially women entrepreneurs; yet, the initial stages of the 'shock' that crises induce, are still underexplored in the entrepreneurial research, though critical for the further venture creation act. The genders' perceptions of opportunity, fear of failure and motivations before and during the pandemic, are employed to predict propensity to start a business during this crisis. Results comparing the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) datasets between 2019 and 2020 suggest that while pandemic has been found to affect women more severely than men, women's perceived availability of opportunities during COVID-19 emerged more tightly related to financial motivations, as their main impetus to start a business. These findings reinforce the relevance of the theory of planned behaviour and bricolage to the contexts of gender and crises. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The COVID-19 captured entrepreneurs by surprise, and shocked in the first months of the pandemic, especially women entrepreneurs; yet, the initial stages of the 'shock' that crises induce, are still underexplored in the entrepreneurial research, though critical for the further venture creation act. The genders' perceptions of opportunity, fear of failure and motivations before and during the pandemic, are employed to predict propensity to start a business during this crisis. Results comparing the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) datasets between 2019 and 2020 suggest that while pandemic has been found to affect women more severely than men, women's perceived availability of opportunities during COVID-19 emerged more tightly related to financial motivations, as their main impetus to start a business. These findings reinforce the relevance of the theory of planned behaviour and bricolage to the contexts of gender and crises. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Although it is well accepted across our country, that the significance and impact of women entrepreneurship are critical for overall sustainable development, the actual level of venture creation by females is much lower than that by males. The purpose of our research is to investigate the role of various factors affecting women entrepreneurship in India. By integrating the intellectual capital and cognitive framework to analyses the venture creation phenomenon, we aim to understand in greater clarity, the underlying factors behind women entrepreneurship. A comprehensive data of 1,765 Indian females from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor was utilised. Logistic regression was applied to analyse the influence of entrepreneurial cognition and intellectual capital on the entrepreneurial intentions of Indian women. Among all the proxy measures of intellectual capital, only owning and managing a firm has a significant positive effect. The perception of opportunities and the perception of social legitimacy, both are significantly related to entrepreneurial intentions.

Executive Summary In the present era, the role of women entrepreneurship has been recognized in the process of economic development worldwide; hence, it must be promoted. Before designing any policy intervention to boost women entrepreneurship, it is important to understand the factors driving women to become entrepreneurs. The previous research on women entrepreneurship was preoccupied with performance of businesses run by women. This research aimed at answering the question: ‘What motivates or discourages the women of a society or an economy from becoming an entrepreneur?’ More specifically, this research investigates factors affecting the entrepreneurial propensity of Indian women through the lenses of cognitive and social capital perspectives. The present study is steered to enhance the understanding of women entrepreneurship at a niche level. Scholars have tried to explain factors affecting women entrepreneurship using myriad of approaches. However, these approaches have been criticized on methodological, conceptual and predictive ability weaknesses. Recently, cognitive and social capital perspectives have gained currency in explaining entrepreneurship. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of cognitive factors—opportunity perception (Hypothesis 1), risk perception (Hypothesis 2) and perceived capabilities (Hypothesis 3)—and social capital factors—social networks (Hypothesis4) and informal investment (Hypothesis 5)—on women’s entrepreneurial propensity in India, a developing country. A data set of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Adult Population Survey including a sample of 1305 Indians was used and binary logistic regression technique was employed to analyse the data. The finding shows that the entrepreneurial opportunities have no significant influence on women entrepreneurship; risk perception discourages women from becoming entrepreneurs, and perceived capabilities influence the decision of women to engage in entrepreneurship; social network motivates women to be entrepreneurial, and being an informal investor encourages them to start their venture. Surprisingly, we do not find support for opportunity perception. Therefore, policymakers should pay more attention to these factors of perception and social networks so that, the propensity of a woman to become entrepreneur would be increased.

This paper explores some the first nationally representative survey data on the experiences of women entrepreneurs in Canada during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. It draws from the 2020 GEM Canada adult population survey (APS), collected in the summer of 2020 (June–August). Our focus is on women running early-stage firms (less than 3.5 years of age). Since the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was a time of great flux and uncertainty, the GEM Canada data provides a valuable window on behaviours and attitudes ‘on the ground’ as entrepreneurs, along with local, provincial, and federal governments, worked to navigate through unprecedented risks. Guided by existing research on gender and entrepreneurship, our descriptive analysis explores women’s activity rates, business discontinuance, attitudes, growth aspirations, and key challenges and opportunities. The 2020 GEM Canada data highlights several areas of concern with respect to women’s activity rates and business exits, and their perceptions of opportunities. But it also reveals surprisingly positive attitudes and aspirations, and the identification of new opportunities for some women entrepreneurs. While our analysis is exploratory, and longer-term trends remain to be seen, the results reported here offer a valuable baseline following the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Barriers of voyaging on the Northern Sea Route: A perspective from shipping Companies

PurposeThis paper aims to explore how psychological perceptions and family situations drive women into necessity- or opportunity-based female entrepreneurship (NBFE or OBFE) and the moderating role of gender equality.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts multilevel logistic regression analysis to examine relationships based on a sample of 6,843 women across eight developing countries drawn from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM).FindingsThe findings suggest that capability and opportunity perceptions positively affect NBFE and OBFE. Family responsibility burden positively affects NBFE and has a U-shaped relationship with OBFE. Household income negatively affects NBFE but positively affects OBFE. Gender equality weakens the U-shaped relationship between family responsibility burden and OBFE but strengthens the positive relationship between capability perception and NBFE and between opportunity perception and NBFE.Research limitations/implicationsThe study highlights the need for targeted policies and support that consider the distinct antecedents and mechanisms of NBFE and OBFE, as well as the importance of promoting gender equality and entrepreneurial education to empower women in their entrepreneurial endeavors. A limitation of this study is the reliance on older data from the GEM, which may not fully capture the current dynamics of developing societies. While the study provides valuable insights, future research should incorporate more recent data to enhance the applicability of the results.Originality/valueThis study deepens the understanding of antecedents of NBFE and OBFE, breaking through the existing literature that neglects the heterogeneity of female entrepreneurship (FE).

Israeli women entrepreneurs: An examination of factors affecting performance

Although the number of women entrepreneurs has increased in recent years, it is still lower than that of men. In addition, although the sports sector has been characterized by its growth in recent years and contributes to the GDP of the countries by generating employment, the role that this has within female entrepreneurship has never been analysed. Therefore, the objective of this study is to know the combinations of conditions (female employment in sports, government support, financing for entrepreneurs, perception of entrepreneurial opportunities and capacities, glass ceiling index and masculine values in society) that generate high levels of female entrepreneurship in the countries of the European Union, as these values are closer to the male TEA (Total Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Activity). A total of 13 European countries were analysed using the fsQCA methodology. The results show that, for high levels of female TEA, the main combination is high levels of government support*high levels of glass ceiling index*low levels of masculinity*low levels of opportunities perception and high levels of female employment in sport, explaining 45% of the cases. The results present a series of implications for improving female entrepreneurship in the European Union countries.

Gender-related entrepreneurship research remains essential for analyzing various socioeconomic, cultural, and socio-family abstractions of human capital that are distinct to gender. This study provides a comprehensive review of the literature about the theoretical foundations, results, assessment, and research that considers specifically composition of human capital as a moderator in the structure of gender entrepreneurial behavior. In this review study course, the SSLR (Semi-Systematic Research Review) approach is utilized to develop future research outlines. The key findings state that studies on female entrepreneurs that concentrate specifically on education and perceived abilities have a number of shortcomings. This includes failing to grasp the importance of simultaneously addressing individual and country-level indicators, as well as structural, historical, and cultural variables. The findings thus reinforce the importance of viewing the structure of female entrepreneurs as part of a holistic interdependent system, highlighting how the interaction of factors at various levels shapes identities, career choices, and perceptions of entrepreneurial opportunities and constraints. Finally, findings indicated that there is a need for a new approach to gender and economic inclusion methods, such as life histories, longitudinal empirical analysis, narrative analysis, approaches with in-depth interviews, or discourse analyses. At the end an agenda for future research is developed based on the review, with implications for entrepreneurship educational attainment and perceived abilities being highlighted.

본 연구의 목적은 여성 기업가의 특성과 창업지원정책이 경영성과에 영향을 미치는 요인을 분석하는 것이다. 여성 기업가의 특성과 여성창업지원정책에 대한 이론적 배경을 바탕으로 연구모형을 설정하였으며, 여성 기업가 130명을 대상으로 SPSS 15.0 통계패키지를 이용하여 실증연구를 수행하였다. 연구결과, 성취욕구, 위험감수성, 비전, 기회인지 능력, 창업지원정책이 경영성과에 정(+)의 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구의 결과는 여성 기업가가 성공할 수 있는 다양한 시사점을 제공할 것이다. The aim of this study is to examine the factors influencing managerial performances of women entrepreneur's characteristics and entrepreneurial supporting policy. This model tests various theoretical research hypotheses relating to characteristics of women entrepreneurs and an entrepreneurial supporting policy. The model is used by SPSS 15.0 for analysis on the sample collected from 130 respondents. The result of hypothesis testing are as follows: need for achievement, risk-taking propensity, vision, opportunity perception and entrepreneurial supporting policy influence positively managerial performances. The results of this study will provide practical implications on success of women entrepreneurs.

This paper examines antecedents of high-quality entrepreneurship in European countries before and after the financial crisis that burst in 2008. In a context of ambitious entrepreneurship, we consider three quality aspects of early-stage entrepreneurship referring to innovativeness, export orientation, and high-growth intentions of entrepreneurs. Using microlevel data retrieved from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) annual surveys, we investigate whether the role of gender, education, opportunity perception, and motives of early-stage entrepreneurs changes between crisis and noncrisis periods. Our results show that the perception of business opportunities has a particularly pronounced effect on high-quality entrepreneurship in adverse economic conditions. We also find that the beneficial effects of educational attainment on growth intentions strengthen in times of crisis. Finally, the gender effect on entrepreneurs’ high-growth intentions and export orientation appears to be stronger in the crisis period, implying that ambitious female entrepreneurship suffers more in the midst of crisis.

PurposeThe corona virus outbreak has affected the entrepreneurial ecosystem adversely. This in particular has impacted on females. This study aims to identify the factors affecting the entrepreneurial intention (EI) of females under post-COVID adverse conditions.Design/methodology/approachA total of 340 articles were screened applying the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses method. The EI of individuals undertaking different professional courses from three top National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) government institutes were then analyzed. In the expert analysis, the nominal group technique (NGT) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) were used to identify and rank the crucial factors. Subsequently, in the exploratory analysis, a 19-item questionnaire was framed. The data was analyzed using SmartPLS 3.FindingsResilience, entrepreneurial education, self-concept and self-efficacy, social influence and opportunity perception were identified as critical indicators. Resilience was identified as the most significant factor. The partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) revealed that all the factors except social influence had significant effect on the EI of females.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focuses primarily on factors affecting females in India. As ecosystems and support vary by region and country, the authors suggest that this study be replicated in different regions/countries in the future.Practical implicationsThe potential entrepreneurs can use this study's reference to identify the abilities they need. The government and academic institutions can have skill/training programs to enhance the effect of important factors identified in the study.Originality/valueWhile there is growing research of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial marketing post-pandemic, there are a lack of Indian studies and female entrepreneurship studies.

A pressing question in entrepreneurial research is where opportunities come from. Prior research indicates that some opportunities stem from known parameters and outcomes; some are discovered through engagement with unknown but knowable factors; and others are unknowable until brought into being through a creative process. This paper explores the second and more prevailing view in entrepreneurial research – that individuals discover business opportunity – and examines how high-growth entrepreneurs perceive opportunity through engagement with the world. Survey results, based on responses from 165 women entrepreneurs in high-growth startups, indicate that individuals with a strong discover mindset act and think in ways that support opportunity perception. Coupled with a belief in her abilities, the entrepreneur is more likely to move from opportunity perception to new venture creation. Results from semi-structured interviews with women from the same population elucidate the survey findings and yield implications for entrepreneurial theory and practice.

<jats:p>This paper examines the impact of foreign direct investment on the important component of social development, women's entrepreneurship. Promoting gender equality is one of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which advocates for the reduction of women's unemployment as well as their empowerment. The country of Turkey was taken as an example, for the reason that there has been an increase in women's entrepreneurial activity in the last two decades, but it is still not at а level of entrepreneural development in developed countries. The paper pays special attention to the answer on the question of whether foreign direct investment contributes to higher employment of women in Turkey, as well as to identify the obstacles that stand in the way of women's empowerment and the development of women's entrepreneurship. The practical examples described in the paper unequivocally indicate the importance of the development of women's entrepreneurship, as well as the fact that the bearers of Turkey's economic policy in the future must pay more attention to the issue of attracting foreign direct investment.</jats:p>