Regional Informal Institutions, Local Governance and Gendered Entrepreneurship

Abstract

This study investigates the impacts of regional informal institutions and local governance arrangements on the revenue growth of both male- and female-run firms in Vietnam. Utilizing institutional theory and the literature on feminism, we argue that male- and female-run firms are responsive to different sets of institutions. Analysing more than 1.1 million observations in 11 years (2006–16), we find that female-run firms benefit from collective action norms and non-finance-related governance forces, while male-run firms perform better under pro-entrepreneurship norms and finance-related governance forces.