Women Entrepreneurship in International Trade: Bridging the Gap by Bringing Feminist Theories into Entrepreneurship and Internationalization Theories

Abstract

Participation of women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in international trade is gaining more importance in the transformation of institutional changes. Although women entrepreneurs contribute to the social and economic development, the role of social, cultural, and legal institutions in fostering women entrepreneurship is still debatable. This argument remains controversial as there is no single theory that has explained the phenomenon of women-owned firms in international trade. Because of the missing link between gender sensitivity and the existing theories of entrepreneurship and internationalization, there is a significant research gap. To fill up this research gap, this study revisited existing theories from three research domains: feminism, entrepreneurship, and internationalization. Factors derived from revisiting theories of entrepreneurship and internationalization were evaluated based on findings from the review of the feminist theories. Finally, key parameters were selected to assess the internationalization of women-owned SMEs, which require future empirical investigation.