Women’s Network Resource Acquisition in Informal Rural Entrepreneurship: A Developed View of Opportunity versus Necessity Dichotomy

This study explores the inherent interdependencies between microfinance social enterprises and two groups of women informal farm entrepreneurs and women informal tourism entrepreneurs in four impoverished rural regions in Iran. Using a qualitative constructivist grounded theory methodology, the findings suggest that women tourism entrepreneurs tend to engage in a greater coexistence of weak vertical and horizontal ties. In contrast, women farm entrepreneurs primarily develop strong horizontal ties. Consequently, members of the tourism group have greater opportunities to access a diverse range of resources, placing them in a more advantageous position along the opportunity–necessity entrepreneurship continuum. Guided by a network approach combined with strong structuration theory, this study develops a theoretical model that illustrates how these two groups of women entrepreneurs differently cope with gender constraints to grow their informal businesses. The findings highlight the need for tailored strategies and policies to empower various groups of subsistence women entrepreneurs.