Institutions and female entrepreneurship: The case of a family business in China

Su, Shihang, Costanzo, Laura A. and Lange, Knut (2024) Institutions and female entrepreneurship: The case of a family business in China. In, Dhaliwal, Spinder (ed.) Cases on Entrepreneurship and Diversity. Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 129-144. (doi:10.4337/9781803923857.00016).

Abstract

In recent years, the body of female entrepreneurship literature has grown significantly across the world, especially in advanced economies. In emerging economies such as China, female entrepreneurship has also grown tremendously, but gender roles for women within the family and business domains typically differ between China and advanced economies. The deeply rooted Confucius culture greatly emphasizes family-centred cultural values, which may have more complex implications for female entrepreneurs in China as females are expected to prioritize family labour over self-employment. However, such culturally informed devotion to family may also present an extra layer of motivation for women to contribute to family-owned businesses. In this chapter, we will discuss the challenges that female entrepreneurs typically encounter through the case study of a Chinese family business. This chapter aims to enrich the students' understanding of female entrepreneurship as a contributor to the macro-economic level and micro-business context; of institutional factors shaping female entrepreneurship in a given society; of cultural values presenting both opportunities and barriers for female entrepreneurship; and of females' role in both the business and family subsystems.

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Contributors

Author: Laura A. Costanzo

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