Institutions and Women Entrepreneurship: The Mediating Role of Women Entrepreneurial Self Efficacy and Ethical Decision Making

Women entrepreneurs play a vital role in employment creation, economic development, and growth. Women entrepreneurship is deep-rooted in the social and cultural norms and values of society. Women’s entrepreneurship contribution is still invisible and needs to be properly investigated. The current research study explores “how institutions affect women’s entrepreneurial performance in Pakistan” by using institutional and social cognitive theories. Focusing on the Formal and informal institutions, this research examines how institutions are affecting women’s entrepreneurial performance by taking the mediating role of women’s entrepreneurial self-efficacy and ethical decision making. A 7-point Likert scale research questionnaire is used to collect primary data. Data on active entrepreneurs are collected from the Peshawar, Mardan, and Abbottabad divisions of KPK’s Women Chambers of Commerce. The data is empirically tested through the path analysis technique of structural equation modeling (SEM) through SMART PLS 3. The results indicated that women’s entrepreneurial selfefficacy and ethical decision-making strongly mediate both institutions and significantly affect women’s entrepreneurial performance. The study suggests that government and concerned departments should pay due attention to determinants like informal institutions and social constraints to boost women’s entrepreneurial performance.