How do institutional environment and entrepreneurial cognition drive female and male entrepreneurship from a configuration perspective?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the gender differences in entrepreneurship driven by configurations of institutional environment and entrepreneurial cognition, and provide theoretical guidance and practical reference for promoting female and male entrepreneurship. Design/methodology/approachBased on a configuration perspective, six antecedents of institutional environment and entrepreneurial cognition are integrated to explore multiple concurrent factors and causally complex relationships affecting female and male entrepreneurship. FindingsThis study indicates that the configurations of institutional environment and entrepreneurial cognition can achieve high female and male entrepreneurship. There are similarities and differences between female and male entrepreneurship from a configuration perspective. Perceived opportunity plays an important role in entrepreneurship for both women and men, and the absence of fear of failure is also important for male entrepreneurship. There is a complementary effect among entrepreneurial cognitions in the absence of institutional environment. In the configurations of institutional environment and entrepreneurial cognition, female entrepreneurship benefits more from informal institutions, whereas regulative and cognitive institutions play a greater role in male entrepreneurship. Practical implicationsPolicymakers and individuals should take a holistic and complex view of the impact of institutional environment and entrepreneurial cognition, and differentiated measures should be taken for female and male entrepreneurship. Originality/valueThis research responds to the call for multilevel transnational entrepreneurship research, enriches research on institutional environment and entrepreneurial cognition, deepens the application of fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to the field of entrepreneurship and strengthens the understanding of the similarities, differences and complexities of female and male entrepreneurship.