Women's entrepreneurship and culture: gender role expectations and identities, societal culture, and the entrepreneurial environment.

Women's entrepreneurship is increasingly important for creating new jobs and contributing to the social and economic growth of their societies, yet the interplay and nuances of women's entrepreneurship and culture are currently understudied. In this special issue, we present eight empirical papers that delve into different aspects of the dynamic interaction between gender and culture in shaping women's entrepreneurship. We provide framework for women's entrepreneurship and culture research to organize the empirical research herein into three interconnected themes: gender role expectations and identities, societal cultural dimensions, and the entrepreneurial environment.

Pivoting to stay the course: How women entrepreneurs take advantage of opportunities created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 is unique in the severity of its impact as it is a humanitarian disaster that has caused both a supply and a demand shock to the global economic system. It has disproportionately affected women entrepreneurs as their firms are younger and smaller. In this commentary, we contend that while all businesses must pivot their business models in times of tumultuous change, simultaneously reducing risk and seizing new opportunities, this is particularly difficult for women entrepreneurs, whose businesses are concentrated in the industry sectors most severely affected by the economic shutdown.

Initial resource assembly in new ventures: does location matter?

The formation of a new venture requires crucial choices that impact the future success of the firm. An important initial decision is whether or not to start the new venture from home or from a separate location. In this paper, we examine the impact of firm-location decisions on the resource assembly process.