Leveraging Generational Experience for Entrepreneurship Attitude: Study of Women Entrepreneurs in Myanmar and Malaysia

Abstract

Issues of intergenerational (IG) mobility in entrepreneurship across countries are identified in the literature, hinting towards progeny of entrepreneurs mostly choosing business as a career. Linking the available literature strands of entrepreneurial attitude (EA), IG mobility in entrepreneurship, and the overarching entrepreneurial ecosystem, the present study aims to contribute further in developing a theoretical framework and test it empirically. The article uniquely focuses on women entrepreneurs, moving away from the tests of progeny among sons. The study setting is based on two Asian countries, distinctly differing from the Western countries, which host most of the classical management theories on entrepreneurship. By using ordered logistic regression on data from a primary survey of women entrepreneurs in Malaysia and Myanmar, it explores the effect of parental experience in entrepreneurial activities on EA scores, measured using behavioural sub-scales. Parental experience in entrepreneurship appears to be a dominant influence on EA in Myanmar, though it is not true for Malaysia. On the other hand, EA among Malaysian women entrepreneurs seems to be mediated far more strongly by education. With a comparative analysis of the policy framework for encouraging women entrepreneurship in both countries, the authors posit that in the absence of substantive support in the external business environment in Myanmar, business families tend to garner physical capital for their wards in business, rather than investing in their human and social capital. Thus, the policy prescription follows that equitable access to an enabling environment encourages IG mobility in entrepreneurship.