Jennifer Franczak Publishes Research on Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Emerging Economies

Jennifer Franczak, Pepperdine Graziadio assistant professor of organization theory and management, along with her co-authors Stephen Lanivich of University of Memphis and Samuel Adomako of University of Birmingham, published a research article titled “Filling institutional voids: Combinative effects of institutional shortcomings and gender on the alertness – Opportunity recognition relationship in the Journal of Business Research.”

This study investigated 266 entrepreneurs in Ghana and the role gender and institutional voids has on entrepreneurship by examining the entrepreneurial alertness and opportunity recognition relationship.

This study uncovered gender discrepancies between men and women when pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors in emerging economies. Women may face more barriers when pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors and more biases in emerging economies due to institutional norms and contexts that may limit support for women entrepreneurs. Given the importance of entrepreneurship and women in developing countries, it is imperative to eliminate gender disparity and encourage gender equity through empowering women to pursue entrepreneurship. 

Read the full research article for free at ScienceDirect through January 2, 2023.