Purpose

By drawing upon social cognitive and legitimacy perspectives, this study aims to explore the role of perceived social legitimacy as an informal institutional force that moderates the effects of female entrepreneurs’ self-efficacy and entrepreneurial tenacity on venture growth.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a data set of 308 Japanese female entrepreneurs, who are a subject of limited extant scholarly attention, to test the hypothesised relationships empirically.

Findings

Consistent with the unified framework, the study was able to identify that the acquisition of social legitimacy required by female entrepreneurs serves as a crucial safety net under which entrepreneurial self-efficacy and tenacity can significantly affect venture growth.

Research limitations/implications

The study highlights that high levels of entrepreneurial traits alone are not necessarily sufficient to guarantee women’s venture growth. In doing so, this study stimulates the development of theory on the complementary role of the social legitimacy of entrepreneurship in fueling and mobilising the female entrepreneurs’ cognitive resources as the key to venture growth in the Japanese context.

Practical implications

Policymakers should be dedicated to implementing more gender-specific policies designed to continually cultivate women’s cognitive attributes in tandem with the promotion of social awareness to embrace entrepreneurship as a promising career option.

Originality/value

The originality of this study lies in stimulating a debate on the underlying heterogeneity of female entrepreneurs in the performance outcomes of two entrepreneurial cognitive attributes. By integrating the concept of perceived social legitimacy, the study can respond to Miao et al. (2017), who sought further examination of untested boundary conditions in the cognitive characteristics-venture growth equation.

中文翻译：

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日本女性企业家的认知属性和风险增长：感知社会合法性的调节作用

目的

通过借鉴社会认知和合法性的观点，本研究旨在探索感知社会合法性作为一种非正式制度力量的作用，它可以调节女性企业家的自我效能和创业韧性对风险增长的影响。

设计/方法/方法

本研究使用 308 名日本女企业家的数据集，她们是现存学术关注有限的主题，以实证检验假设的关系。

发现

与统一框架一致，该研究能够确定女性企业家所需的社会合法性的获得是一个关键的安全网，在该安全网下，企业家的自我效能和坚韧可以显着影响风险增长。

研究限制/影响

该研究强调，仅凭高水平的创业特质并不一定足以保证女性的创业成长。在这样做的过程中，本研究促进了创业的社会合法性在推动和动员女性企业家的认知资源方面的互补作用理论的发展，这是日本背景下风险增长的关键。

实际影响

政策制定者应致力于实施更多针对性别的政策，旨在不断培养女性的认知属性，同时提高社会意识，将创业作为一种有前途的职业选择。

原创性/价值

本研究的独创性在于激发了关于女性企业家在两种创业认知属性的绩效结果中潜在异质性的辩论。通过整合感知社会合法性的概念，该研究可以回应 Miao等人。（2017 年），他寻求进一步检查认知特征 - 风险增长方程中未经测试的边界条件。