TY - JOUR

T1 - Why husbands matter

T2 - Review of spousal influence on women entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa

AU - Wolf, Kathrin

AU - Frese, Michael

PY - 2018/1/2

Y1 - 2018/1/2

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Africa

KW - family embeddedness

KW - review

KW - spousal support

KW - women entrepreneurship

KW - Management studies

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85050733912&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/23322373.2018.1428019

DO - 10.1080/23322373.2018.1428019

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85050733912

VL - 4

SP - 1

EP - 32

JO - Africa Journal of Management

JF - Africa Journal of Management

SN - 2332-2373

IS - 1

ER -