دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی اکوسیستم های کارآفرینی و زنان کارآفرین: سرمایه اجتماعی و رویکرد شبکه - اشپرینگر 2018

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of venture typology, race, ethnicity, and past venture experience on the social capital distribution of women entrepreneurs in entrepreneurial ecosystems. Social network data from two municipal ecosystems in Florida, USA (Gainesville and Jacksonville), suggest that network connectivity and the distribution of social capital are significantly different for men and women entrepreneurs. This difference is contingent on the venture type. Male entrepreneurs show higher comparative scores of bridging social capital in aggressive- and managed-growth venture networks, while women entrepreneurs surpass their male counterparts’ bridging capital scores in lifestyle and survival venture networks. Lastly, experienced women entrepreneurs that self-identified as white showed a higher degree of network connectivity and bridging social capital in the entrepreneurial ecosystem than less experienced non-white female entrepreneurs. Implications for entrepreneurship practice and new research paths are discussed.

6 Conclusions

At a time when the rate of female entrepreneurship is increasing worldwide, the importance of understanding the contextual aspects of how women build and grow ventures cannot be understated. One such contextual factor is the ability (or lack thereof) for female entrepreneurs to develop social capital in an entrepreneurial ecosystem. To address this issue, our study adopted a social network approach to examine the effects of venture typology, race, ethnicity, and past venture experience on the distribution of social capital and network connectivity of female entrepreneurs in two municipal entrepreneurial ecosystems. Our results create the need for a more nuanced understanding of how individual and venture characteristics play a role in the formation of social capital boundaries. For example, we found that female entrepreneurs engaged in high-growth ventures showed a lower degree of bridging social capital than male entrepreneurs. However, this effect was reversed for female entrepreneurs engaged in lifestyle and survival ventures. This provides for an expanded view of how social capital boundaries exist from across different venture contexts, and suggests that future research on entrepreneurial ecosystems needs to examine the configuration of different venture types more systematically. Therefore, we conclude that a more concerted effort is needed to collect and incorporate network measures more reliably and comprehensibly. These research developments will provide both a more nuanced and rigorous understanding of the role and position of female entrepreneurs in entrepreneurial ecosystems.