IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wsi/jdexxx/v20y2015i04ns1084946715500223.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Entrepreneurial Networks And Growth In Female-Owned Businesses: Evidence From Small And Medium Scale Enterprises In Eritrea

Author

Listed:
  • ISAAC DESTA

    (Holy Cross College, Business Department, 54515 State Road 933 N, PO Box 308, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA)

  • ABEL TEDLA

    (Business School, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania)

  • DAWIT ZEROM

    (California State University, Fullerton, Mihaylo College of Business and Economics, 2550 Nutwood Ave, Fullerton, CA 92831, USA)

Abstract

This study examines the role of entrepreneurial network strength (strong vs. weak ties) on growth of female-owned businesses. Primary data were collected from 356 small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) located in four of the six administrative regions of Eritrea. Our main finding indicates that weak entrepreneurial networks composed of cooperatives and business firms have the strongest positive relationship with growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Isaac Desta & Abel Tedla & Dawit Zerom, 2015. "Entrepreneurial Networks And Growth In Female-Owned Businesses: Evidence From Small And Medium Scale Enterprises In Eritrea," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(04), pages 1-16, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:jdexxx:v:20:y:2015:i:04:n:s1084946715500223
    DOI: 10.1142/S1084946715500223
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S1084946715500223
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1142/S1084946715500223?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Murphy, James T., 2002. "Networks, Trust, and Innovation in Tanzania's Manufacturing Sector," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 591-619, April.
    2. Danny Mackinnon & Keith Chapman & Andrew Cumbers, 2004. "Networking, trust and embeddedness amongst SMEs in the Aberdeen oil complex," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 87-106, March.
    3. Eric L. Hansen, 1995. "Entrepreneurial Networks and New Organization Growth," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 19(4), pages 7-19, July.
    4. Jan Inge Jenssen & Harold F. Koenig, 2002. "The Effect of Social Networks on Resource Access and Business Start-ups," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(8), pages 1039-1046, December.
    5. M. Kamil Kozan & Levent Akdeniz, 2014. "Role of Strong versus Weak Networks in Small Business Growth in an Emerging Economy," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-16, February.
    6. Matanda, Margaret Jekanyika & Freeman, Susan, 2009. "Effect of perceived environmental uncertainty on exporter-importer inter-organisational relationships and export performance improvement," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 89-107, February.
    7. Davidsson, Per, 1991. "Continued entrepreneurship: Ability, need, and opportunity as determinants of small firm growth," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 6(6), pages 405-429, November.
    8. Birley, Sue, 1985. "The role of networks in the entrepreneurial process," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 107-117.
    9. Hossein Jalilian & Michael Tribe & John Weiss (ed.), 2000. "Industrial Development and Policy in Africa," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1812.
    10. Mick Moore, 1997. "Societies, polities and capitalists in developing countries: A literature survey," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(3), pages 287-363.
    11. Frédéric Delmar & Scott Shane, 2006. "Does Experience Matter? : The Effect of Founding Team Experience on the Survival and Sales of Newly Founded Ventures," Post-Print hal-02311638, HAL.
    12. Julie M. Hite & William S. Hesterly, 2001. "The evolution of firm networks: from emergence to early growth of the firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 275-286, March.
    13. B. Andreosso-O’Callaghan & Helena Lenihan, 2008. "Networking: a question of firm characteristics? The case of the Shannon region in Ireland," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(6), pages 561-580.
    14. Susan Hanson & Megan Blake, 2009. "Gender and Entrepreneurial Networks," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 135-149.
    15. Christian Lechner & Michael Dowling, 2003. "Firm networks: external relationships as sources for the growth and competitiveness of entrepreneurial firms," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 1-26, January.
    16. Hakansson, Hakan & Ford, David, 2002. "How should companies interact in business networks?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 133-139, February.
    17. Oecd, 2002. "Access for Business," OECD Digital Economy Papers 67, OECD Publishing.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ojong, Nathanael & Simba, Amon & Dana, Leo-Paul, 2021. "Female entrepreneurship in Africa: A review, trends, and future research directions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 233-248.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Newbert, Scott L. & Tornikoski, Erno T. & Quigley, Narda R., 2013. "Exploring the evolution of supporter networks in the creation of new organizations," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 281-298.
    2. M. Kamil Kozan & Levent Akdeniz, 2014. "Role of Strong versus Weak Networks in Small Business Growth in an Emerging Economy," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-16, February.
    3. Junfu Zhang, 2011. "The advantage of experienced start-up founders in venture capital acquisition: evidence from serial entrepreneurs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 187-208, February.
    4. Li, Haiyan, 2020. "Role of overseas ethnic and non-ethnic ties and firm activity in the home country in the internationalization of returnee entrepreneurial firms," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(1).
    5. Dossou, Smith A.R. & Aoudji, Augustin K. N. & Vissoh, Pierre & Zannou, Afio, 2021. "Effect of Social Networks and Performance of Young Women Agribusiness Owners in a Developing Country: The Moderating Effect of Business Environment," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315361, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. Thorsten Semrau & Arndt Werner, 2014. "How Exactly Do Network Relationships Pay Off? The Effects of Network Size and Relationship Quality on Access to Start–Up Resources," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(3), pages 501-525, May.
    7. Susanna Slotte–Kock & Nicole Coviello, 2010. "Entrepreneurship Research on Network Processes: A Review and Ways Forward," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(1), pages 31-57, January.
    8. Izaias Martins, 2016. "Network Usage, Entrepreneurial Orientation and Their Effectiveness on SMEs Growth," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, vol. 25(1), pages 18-41, March.
    9. Lechner, Christian & Dowling, Michael & Welpe, Isabell, 2006. "Firm networks and firm development: The role of the relational mix," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 514-540, July.
    10. Ha, Mai Phuong, 2014. "The Involvement Of Entreprener’S Networks In Opportunities Exploration And Exploitation Of International New Ventures," OSF Preprints gaxhq, Center for Open Science.
    11. Tamara Galkina & Irina Atkova, 2020. "Effectual Networks as Complex Adaptive Systems: Exploring Dynamic and Structural Factors of Emergence," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(5), pages 964-995, September.
    12. Jack, Sarah L., 2010. "Approaches to studying networks: Implications and outcomes," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 120-137, January.
    13. Milanov, Hana & Justo, Rachida & Bradley, Steven W., 2015. "Making the most of group relationships: The role of gender and boundary effects in microcredit groups," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 822-838.
    14. Anastasia Petrou & Irene Daskalopoulou, 2015. "Social Capital and Small Business Competitiveness: Evidence from Cross-Section Tourism Data," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 6(4), pages 946-967, December.
    15. Scott Newbert & Erno Tornikoski, 2012. "Supporter networks and network growth: a contingency model of organizational emergence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 141-159, July.
    16. Hans Löfsten & Anders Isaksson & Heikki Rannikko, 2023. "Entrepreneurial networks, geographical proximity, and their relationship to firm growth: a study of 241 small high-tech firms," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(6), pages 2280-2306, December.
    17. Patrick M. Kreiser & Pankaj C. Patel & James O. Fiet, 2013. "The Influence of Changes in Social Capital on Firm–Founding Activities," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(3), pages 539-567, May.
    18. Mary Han & Bill McKelvey, 2016. "How to Grow Successful Social Entrepreneurship Firms? Key Ideas from Complexity Theory," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 24(03), pages 243-280, September.
    19. Bharat Bhushan & Raj K. Kovid & Deepa Kumari, 2020. "Entrepreneurial Networks and Venture Growth: Insights from Information Technology Firms in an Emerging Market," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 9(3), pages 205-215, September.
    20. Julia Keidel & Peter M. Bican & Frederik J. Riar, 2021. "Influential Factors of Network Changes: Dynamic Network Ties and Sustainable Startup Embeddedness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-20, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wsi:jdexxx:v:20:y:2015:i:04:n:s1084946715500223. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Tai Tone Lim (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.worldscinet.com/jde/jde.shtml .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.