The Influence of Embeddedness on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Strategy: A Gender Perspective in the Agri-Food Sector

Gina Santos,João Ferreira,Carla Susana Marques

doi:10.3390/su13169384

Abstract

This study aims to identify the antecedents of entrepreneurial activity in the agri-food sector of the Portuguese region of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (TMAD), taking into account a gender perspective. Thus, we intend to assess whether the environment influences embeddedness, and whether embeddedness, individual entrepreneurial orientation, innovative behaviour and gender impact or influence the perceptions of feasibility and desirability as antecedents of entrepreneurial activity of entrepreneurs in the agri-food sector of the TMAD region. The measurement instrument was applied to 249 firms in the agri-food sector, created in the last 5 years. A model was conceptualised where the relationships between the constructs relating to embeddedness, IEO and EI were presented, and three control variables were subsequently added: the innovative behaviour, the environment and gender. Univariate and multivariate statistical techniques, such as structural equation modelling, were used to assess the proposed conceptual model. Thus, considering the complexity of the model under study, we performed an analysis which considered personal factors or characteristics, such as innovative behaviour, gender and IEO, as these are characteristics of the individual and may be influenced or shaped by external factors such as the context, i.e., the environment and embeddedness.

Highlights

Accepted: 16 August 2021The concept of embeddedness has taken on multiple meanings and uses, reflecting the timelessness of the term and the various theoretical traditions and empirical enigmas that underlie it
Taking into account the proposed aims and the results achieved with the research model under study, we can conclude that the dimensions of embeddedness, the individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO), the EI, and the perceptions of feasibility and desirability are predictors of entrepreneurial activity
With regard to the relationship between innovative behaviour and IEO (Hypothesis 6), we find that it has a large effect, being preponderant both in the direct impact it presents and when it acts as a mediator of the relationship between embeddedness and IEO

Summary

Introduction

The concept of embeddedness has taken on multiple meanings and uses, reflecting the timelessness of the term and the various theoretical traditions and empirical enigmas that underlie it. There is a proliferation of conceptual and empirical studies that integrate embeddedness, analysing it in detail, in several themes, such as network theories and strategic alliances [2,3,4], organisations and strategy [5], rural entrepreneurship [6,7], networks and organisations [6] and network theory and cultural sociology [8] In this context, Brush, de Bruin and Welter [9] warn of the scarcity of exploratory studies on the role of gender in business creation and on the possible differences between men and women concerning this topic. They argue that the existence of initiatives such as the Diana Project and the growing number of studies that have emerged in the last 15 years help to have a little more in-depth knowledge about this area, though a shortage of comparative empirical studies persists [9,10,11,12].

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion