Toward a Relational Perspective on Hybrid Entrepreneurship: Institutional Complexity and the Co-Construction of Liminal Space in Hybrid Female Entrepreneurship

Abstract

This study examines hybrid entrepreneurship (HE) in non-Western contexts where informal and non-market institutions are central. Based on 31 case studies of female hybrid entrepreneurs in Ethiopia and 64 in-depth interviews, we conceptualize HE as a relational, co-constructed process shaped by institutional complexity. Women enact HE in liminal spaces sustained through relational practices: reconfiguring boundaries, cultivating ambiguity and gray areas, and maintaining webs of reciprocity. Institutional complexity both enables and constrains HE, underscoring its social embeddedness rather than individual agency. The study advances research on HE, female entrepreneurship, and institutional complexity by foregrounding relational dynamics and gendered experiences.

Keywords

hybrid entrepreneurship female entrepreneurship gender qualitative research methods institutional complexity

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