Women’s entrepreneurship often unfolds simultaneously on two stages: the company and the home. Intuitively, it is easy to assume that these two worlds mainly generate conflict.
Research by Professor Eugeniusz Kąciak from Kozminski University and Dianne H. B. Welsh from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, funded by the Polish National Science Centre, paints a more precise picture. What matters is not simply the combination of roles, but the direction in which resources flow and the strength of institutional support for families in a given country.
Two Directions of Enrichment
The authors distinguish between two mechanisms of enrichment. Family to business enrichment (FBE) refers to situations in which resources from family life, such as emotional support, stability, or organizational skills, contribute to running a business more effectively. Business to family enrichment (BFE) works in the opposite direction. In this case, experiences, skills, and achievements gained in business improve family functioning and increase satisfaction with family life.
The analysis is based on panel data collected twice, one year apart, from 1,086 women entrepreneurs in six countries across three continents. Using an abductive approach that combines theoretical reasoning with the discovery of patterns in data, the authors applied structural equation modeling (SEM). The logic of the results is clear. In countries with higher levels of institutional support for families, FBE increases family satisfaction. In countries with lower levels of such support, BFE strengthens both family and business satisfaction. Importantly, FBE is not significantly associated with business satisfaction in any of the analyzed contexts.
Institutions Shape Where the Effects Appear
The study highlights an important insight. The same family and business resources can translate into satisfaction in different domains depending on how the institutional environment operates. In other words, what proves beneficial is not universal, but context dependent. It varies with the country and the level of institutional support provided to families.
