Women entrepreneurship in small service firms: motivations, barriers and performance

Akehurst, Gary; Simarro, Enrique; Mas‐Tur, Alicia

doi:10.1080/02642069.2012.677834

Cited by 130 publications

(146 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…They are linked both to personal features of individuals/future entrepreneurs, as well as to the existing market and economic opportunities. The scientific literature on the readiness of individuals for entrepreneurship has evidenced that social factors such as gender, age, education, skills, family, and community background, previous working experience or career expectations, psychological factors, and immigration background could influence entrepreneurial behavior, and by a matter of consequence, the behavior related to sustainability entrepreneurship [36][37][38][39]. Choongo et al (2016) examine the factors influencing the identification of opportunities in Zambia, finding that entrepreneurial knowledge is not enough for a positive attitude towards environment, their recommendation consisting in the necessity to increase awareness among existing and future entrepreneurs with respect to the consequences of business activities on the environment [40].…”

Section: Key Drivers Of the Decision In Favor Of Sustainability Entrementioning

confidence: 99%

Circular Economy and Decision Models among European SMEs

2017

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While targeting waste reduction and maintaining the value of products and resources in the system as much as possible, undertaking circular economy practices at the company level is a way of achieving entrepreneurial sustainability. This paper explores entrepreneurial decision models for adopting circular economy practices, focusing on European SMEs. Decision tree models are applied on data from Flash Eurobarometer 441 in order to uncover business strategies in relation to the implementation of circular economy practices at the company level and with the optimal level and nature of investments in the circular economy for improving economic performances of companies. The main findings of the article offer a better understanding of the relation between characteristics of European SMEs and their decisions in the field of circular economy. Such results are relevant from both macro and micro perspectives, as they can be used for customizing circular economy programs and intervention strategies for various groups of SMEs, as well as for supporting sustainable entrepreneurial decisions.

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Section: Key Drivers Of the Decision In Favor Of Sustainability Entrementioning

confidence: 99%

Circular Economy and Decision Models among European SMEs

2017

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“…Correlating these results with the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents, impediment in starting up a business, this fact can have a positive impact on women entrepreneurs, encouraging women not so young to have such initiatives (Kautonen et al, 2011). Age as a determining factor in the success of a business has been debated also in other regional studies regarding female entrepreneurship (Akehurst et al, 2012). In Romania, the start-up of a business at older ages is not common, only 3% of the women interviewed having over 55 years when they started the business (Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Women entrepreneurship in Romania: a regional evaluation

Pocol¹,

Moldovan-Teselios²

2014

BUASVMCN-HORT

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The study aims to asses overall satisfaction of the initiative for becoming an entrepreneur among women in Romania. The research was conducted in the Regions of North East, North West and West, on a sample of 602 women entrepreneurs. The research method chosen was the sociological survey. Almost three quarters of the respondents declare to be satis ied having opened a business. The degree of satisfaction regarding this decision is associated with age, education and family income. The main motivations identi ied are: capital accumulation, independence, lack of employment or the rise of an opportunity. Most frequently, women entrepreneurs feel respect due to their status, this decreasing among those with secondary education, with family incomes below 3000 RON and those who don't have employees.

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“…Gender, is affecting career choices through stereotypes, creating "gender appropriate occupations" (BarNir et al, 2011). Some authors refer to financial or start-up difficulties due to gender, because of discriminations towards women entrepreneurs (Akehurst et al, 2012) while others refer to lack of social support to entrepreneurial initiatives, due to gender stereotypes (Alvarez et al, 2011;Hackler & Mayer, 2008).Thus, gender can be also considered a barrier to entrepreneurship under some circumstances.…”

Section: Internal Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Informal support is measured through Subjective-Social norm construct (Ajzen, 1991), which differentiates among different cultures ) and may act as a barrier under circumstances (Iakovleva et al, 2014). Formal support, includes institutional support, like funding, subsidies, consulting and service support, mostly referred by actual entrepreneurs (Akehurst et al, 2012). Young successful entrepreneurs declare their frustration according to the role of official support structures (Hulsink & Koek, 2014), while also the majority of students asked, argue that, lack of institutional support is a major drawback to their entrepreneurial plans (Giacomin et al, 2011;Pruett et al, 2009;Smith & Beasley, 2011;Sesen & Pruett, 2014).…”

Section: External Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%