International entrepreneurship in Africa: the roles of institutional voids, entrepreneurial networks and gender

This paper explored how institutional voids (market-unfriendly regulations and corruption) in the home country affect the internationalization degree of early-stage entrepreneurs in Africa. We examined the contingent roles of entrepreneurial networks and gender in the relationship between these inst...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Authors: Pindado Tapia, Emilio, Alarcón Lorenzo, Silverio, Sánchez García, Mercedes, García Martínez, Marian
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2023
Country:España
Institution:Universidad Pública de Navarra
Repository:Academica-e. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Pública de Navarra
OAI Identifier:oai:academica-e.unavarra.es:2454/46265
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2454/46265
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Africa
International entrepreneurship
Market-unfriendly policies
Corruption
Networking bricolage
Gender
Description
Summary:This paper explored how institutional voids (market-unfriendly regulations and corruption) in the home country affect the internationalization degree of early-stage entrepreneurs in Africa. We examined the contingent roles of entrepreneurial networks and gender in the relationship between these institutional voids and entrepreneurs’ internationalization degree. We used 2003–2017 GEM data from 17 African countries and applied multilevel-ordered logistic models. Our analysis revealed that market-unfriendly regulations have a negative effect on the entrepreneurs’ internationalization degree and that corruption, in line with the escapism view, has a positive effect. Our results indicated that entrepreneurs engage in networking bricolage to internationalize their ventures and overcome context limitations. They also suggested that the internationalization degree of female entrepreneurs increases in market-unfriendly regulatory environments. Finally, our results showed that the ‘escapism effect’ of corruption is greater for female entrepreneurs; however, for female entrepreneurs with medium and large internationalization degrees, this context imposes additional constraints on them.