Why husbands matter: Review of spousal influence on women entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa

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Authors

This article seeks to advance our understanding of successful women entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa by examining how husbands contribute to women's entrepreneurial activity and performance. Little is known about husbands’ influence in this region, although sub-Saharan women entrepreneurs are deeply embedded in their families and are important drivers of social and economic development. Based on a systematic literature review identifying six recurring types of supportive and constraining spousal influence, we explore the implications for women entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa. We argue that sub-Saharan Africa differs substantially from the context of previous research and derive propositions of how spousal influence is affected by resource-scarce entrepreneurial ecosystems, patriarchal societies and work-family integration. Our propositions illustrate the importance of contextualizing spousal influence and highlight that husbands are critical stakeholders for women entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa.

Original languageEnglish
JournalAfrica Journal of Management
Volume4
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)1-32
Number of pages32
ISSN2332-2373
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 02.01.2018

    Research areas

  • Africa, family embeddedness, review, spousal support, women entrepreneurship
  • Management studies