Introduction

Work and family are intertwined areas of life for most people but they may be especially connected for entrepreneurs, in general (Jennings and McDougald 2007; Hsu et al. 2016), and female business owners, in particular (Loscocco and Bird 2012; Peris-Ortiz et al. 2012; Shelton 2006). Research involving work and family typically draws on the Work-Family Interface (WFI) theory (Jennings and McDougald 2007). Entrepreneurship scholars have recently started to recognize the relevance of the business-family interface or BFI (Jennings and McDougald 2007; Hsu et al. 2016). There are two dimensions within the BFI framework: enrichment-business and family are positive domains, and interference-business and family comprise conflicting spheres. These two dimensions are bi-directional (Greenhaus and Powell 2006), meaning the dimensions are on a continuum from business performance to family interests and vice versa. The family-to-business enrichment construct is further divided into instrumental (organizational, financial) and affective (moral, emotional) family support (Hsu et al. 2016). The enrichment and interference processes may operate simultaneously. This is particularly true for women who fulfil multiple roles and are entrapped between the family and business duties (Rothbard 2001). Therefore, some scholars believe that the two perspectives should be combined into one overall model (Hsu 2016; Jennings and McDougald 2007). They see the processes as competing because each perspective is positive in some respects and negative in others. So far, most of research looks at the two processes separately. For example, Eddleston and Powell (2012), Powell and Eddleston (2013) focus on relationships between family enrichment and business performance. Jennings and McDougald (2007), and Shelton (2006), consider links between family interference and work. The objective of this study is to develop a conceptual model of women’s entrepreneurship that connects the two BFI dimensions and firm performance in a multifaceted, multi-directional, fashion based on the uniqueness of women’s entrepreneurship. To our knowledge, such a comprehensive model is lacking in the literature. This Performance-Interference-Enrichment (PIE) model will be tested based on data from various countries around the world. We will show that the model’s links depend on the country context. Thus, we identify new boundary conditions to the domain of female entrepreneurship that are sorely lacking in the literature. The paper proceeds as follows. The next section provides an overview of the extant literature on the relationships between the BFI dimensions and firm performance. Next, a conceptual model of women’s entrepreneurship is developed and tested. Implementation suggestions are put forth. Finally, we discuss the results, implications, and provide conclusions.