The influence of women entrepreneurs on performance of micro and small enterprises

Women entrepreneurs have a vital role in global economic growth and developments also have the potential and capability to become key players in the new knowledge based economy. The study employed to investigate the factors such as human capital, financial capital, networks and government assistance that affects the performance of women entrepreneurs in Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs), as measured by revenue and profitability. To achieve the objectives of the study, questionnaires were analyzed using statistical analysis, such as Pearson Correlation and Multiple Regression Analysis. Quantitative methods were employed to gather all of facts and information with 373 completed questionnaires among women entrepreneurs in Perak, Malaysia. Simple random sampling was used for data collection and was analyzed by using SPSS software in order to interpret the results. The empirical study found that four major factors which include human capital, financial capital, networks and government assistance have a significant relationship with the performance of women entrepreneurs in Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs). The study further indicates that human capital and networks have a significant negative effect on the performance while financial capital and government assistance shows positive effects, but the effect of government assistance on the performance is weak