Innovation boosters for female entrepreneurs in emerging economies: The mediating role of innovation self-efficacy

Abstract

This article examines the effect of resources on the innovative capabilities of female entrepreneurs in an emerging economy, specifically Ghana, and tests the mediating role of innovation self-efficacy in this relationship. Using a random sampling technique, 347 female entrepreneurs completed measures of resources, innovation self-efficacy, and innovation, and the hypothesised relationships were tested using structural equation modelling. The findings show that resources have no significant direct effect on innovation; instead, resources significantly enhance innovation self-efficacy, which in turn significantly drives innovation. Innovation self-efficacy therefore fully mediates the relationship between resources and innovation, indicating that resource availability alone is insufficient to stimulate innovation among female entrepreneurs. Rather, it is the psychological capability to mobilise and deploy resources that translates them into innovation outcomes. The study contributes to gender-inclusive entrepreneurship research by extending the resource-based view to incorporate psychological capability as a boundary condition for resource value in emerging economies.