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The paper seeks to explore the experiences of owners of rural tourism accommodation businesses in New Zealand within the framework of copreneurship. It aims to examine roles within copreneurial rural tourism businesses and describes and evaluates women's experiences of entrepreneurship.

The method of the research is a postal survey of rural tourism accommodation business owners complemented by in‐depth interviews with women in copreneurial business relationships. Triangulation of data sources and methods, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques enables a rich understanding of copreneurial expectations, roles and responsibilities and of women's experiences specifically.

The paper finds that the rural tourism accommodation sector in New Zealand is characterised by lifestylers and copreneurs running their businesses as a “hobby” and that non‐economic, lifestyle motivations are important stimuli to business formation. The paper also finds that any perception of copreneurship as a tool for enabling women to become freed from traditional gender roles may not equal the reality as a gendered ideology persists even through copreneurial relationships in rural tourism. Copreneurial couples appear to engage in running the accommodation business using traditional gender‐based roles mirroring those found in the private home.

The paper goes some way toward addressing the fact that there exists an underexplored and unarticulated feminine set of processes and behaviours in new venture production. In this research, women's voices were able to come through in both the survey and the interview research and their experiences are reported through their narratives. What is revealed is that a gendered ideology persists even through copreneurial relationships in rural tourism.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the family dynamics factors and gender roles influencing the functioning of copreneurial business practices, to propose a conceptual framework based on these factors/roles.

For this purpose, a qualitative approach was adopted, through the analysis of seven businesses created by copreneurial couples in an emerging economy – Brazil. Data were obtained from an open interview with each member of the selected couples who are in charge of firm management.

The empirical evidence obtained shows that the most important factors for successful copreneurial family businesses are professionalization, dividing the couple’s tasks and business management. Trust, communication, flexibility and common goals are other essential relational-based factors for the good functioning of this type of family business and stability in the personal relationship.

It is clear that professionalization and the separation of positions and functions are fundamental for a balance between business management and the couple’s marital life. When couples are in harmony and considering factors such as trust, communication and flexibility (relational-based factors), the firm’s life-cycle and business success become real and more effective.

From the family dynamics factors and gender roles, this study focused on one of the most important and integrated family firm relationships, copreneurial couples. As there is little research on the heterogeneity of family firms runs specifically by copreneurial couples, this study is particularly important and innovative in the context of a developing economy, such as Brazil. Based on empirical evidence, this study was proposed an integrative and holistic framework that shows the functioning of copreneurial businesses practices.

The paper aims to develop an expanded conceptualisation of copreneurship, locating it within the family embeddedness perspective on entrepreneurship.

The paper draws upon entrepreneurship and family business literatures in order to identify the concept of copreneurship within both traditions.

Copreneurship has been examined by researchers in both fields and, although there are limitations to the current understanding, it clearly represents an important phenomenon, and the role of spousal support in entrepreneurship being identified as particularly significant.

By locating copreneurship as a key link between the entrepreneurship and family business literatures, this paper offers a useful basis for framing subsequent work using insight from both fields.

Copreneurship, and other forms of small family firms, represent a high proportion of new ventures and there are, therefore, considerable policy benefits to gaining greater understanding of the dynamics of such ventures.

The paper offers an expanded conceptualisation of copreneurship which both increases its utility as a construct and highlight key definitional issues for future research.

The purpose of this article is to determine the factors in the context of entrepreneurship that are evident in Ecuador, a country that has the highest rate of female entrepreneurship worldwide with 34% according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) (2019).

A qualitative study was carried out with 39 cases, applying in-depth personal interviews and focus groups to selected cases in the main cities of Ecuador.

The results suggest that “mumpreneurship”, copreneurship and sustainable thinking arise in response to the environment. Deepening then in the perspective of the 5M proposes by Brush et al. (2009) that give us a framework of the macroenvironment of women entrepreneurship and offers a holistic understanding of women's entrepreneurship, adding a sixth “M” which is “Environmental Thinking” or the environmental thinking that is present in the current context.

This article is one of the first to analyse the context of female entrepreneurship in Ecuador and determine the context factors that influence the identification of opportunities and the exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities. It also presents the expectations and challenges of the women who shape the authors’ case studies and give voice to Ecuadorian women. Consequently, this research will support the configuration of policies that supports each of the stages of women's entrepreneurial processes.

Este artículo pretende determinar los factores del contexto del emprendimiento que se evidencian en el Ecuador, país que ostenta la tasa más alta de emprendimiento femenino a nivel mundial con un 34% de acuerdo al GEM (2019).

Se realizó un estudio cualitativo con 39 casos, aplicando entrevistas personales a profundidad y grupos focales a casos seleccionados en las principales ciudades del Ecuador.

Los resultados sugieren que el “mumpreneurship”, el copreneurship y el pensamiento sostenible surgen como respuesta al entorno. Profundizando entonces en la perspectiva de las 5Ms propuesta por Brush et al. (2009) que ofrece una comprensión holística del emprendimiento de mujeres, añadiendo una sexta “M” que es el “Medioambiental Thinking” o el pensamiento ambiental que está presente en el contexto estudiado.

Este artículo es uno de los primeros en analizar el contexto del emprendimiento femenino en Ecuador y determinar los factores del contexto que influyen en la identificación y en la explotación de oportunidades emprendedoras. Además presenta las expectativas y retos de las mujeres que configuran nuestros casos de estudio y dan voz a las mujeres ecuatorianas. En consecuencia nuestra investigación servirá de apoyo para la configuración de políticas que apoyen cada una de las etapas del proceso emprendedor de las mujeres.

This article explores the small unit of family business – being in business with one's spouse – in Scotland and New Zealand. With reference to social network theory, the research explores if the strong married relationship enhances business or inhibits it due to a hypothesised limiting effect on access to external networks. The paper thus measures the impact of networks on copreneurial business performance and explores perceptions of the copreneurial experience.

The research applies a mixed methodology. First, a quantitative sample of 301 small firms in Scotland and New Zealand is tested for variation in performance and social network reach between copreneurial, other types of family firms and firms with no family links. Thereafter, a qualitative study explores the experience of 101 copreneurs in the two countries, to which a thematic analysis is applied.

Networks are shown to be central influences on performance, but the paper finds no performance or network reach variation between copreneurial and other business. Nevertheless, copreneurship is perceived both positively and negatively by practitioners and testimonies include explicit reference to strategies to manage home/work tensions.

The paper contributes new data on performance in copreneurial firms in two international locations. Viewed through a social network theory lens, the research shows the utility of networks to business, family or otherwise. The paper also shows that the work/family interface in copreneurial firms is perceived both as an advantage and as a challenge and so requires careful management.

This paper reports on a recent Australian study of 20 “copreneurial” marital partners who own and manage a small business together. For “copreneurs”, the disadvantages of living and working together are outweighed by opportunities for maximum autonomy and personal control, and working together in a common cause which capitalises on individual strengths and values. Work and family management is enhanced by this form of family business, allowing partners to combine career and home duties flexibly and effectively. Traditional gender roles are apparent in “copreneurship”, with women predominantly responsible for the home domain and family care. “Copreneurship” helps promote a “family‐friendly” work environment for the business partners and for their employees. This “family‐friendly” culture also fosters an entrepreneurial spirit in children, which bodes well for the next generation of small business owners and salaried employees.

This paper explores the overlapping domains of business/firm and family. Suggests that the descriptor of “joint careers” is preferable to that of symbiotic careers. Describes what we term the primary career and auxiliary career which often go to make up a joint career. Both strands of career are a prerequisite for the resilience and success of the family business. The example of youth entrepreneurship is dealt with to show the possibility of an inversion of the traditional roles with the parents’ career becoming ancillary to that of their offspring. Empirical observations from New Zealand are drawn on to illustrate our discussion. It is hoped that ideas discussed in this paper will aid the understandings of further dimensions and properties of the “thread” of the theory of the boundaryless career and help move forward the research agenda on the united career trajectory.

The change in couples' personal ambitions concerning their careers, how they look after their family and how they deal with the work–family balance has revolutionized their position in the business world, specifically in family businesses. When couples embark on a joint business, the authors have copreneurial couples or copreneurs, the concept having existed for decades. This study provides mapping and a broad, holistic bibliometric analysis of copreneurs.

The study presented here followed the literature review for scientific mapping of the topic under discussion.

The results obtained show that the vast literature on copreneurs refers to other social sciences rather than business and management. Furthermore, final refining of the initial research made indicates that the literature in these areas is still minimal, justifying the need for this study. Also shown is the need to continue to study copreneurs, as fundamental economic actors in the business sector.

One of the study's main contributions lies in building a theoretical framework to explore empirically the success or failure of this business typology. The topics identified in this analysis highlighted copreneurial teams, copreneurial business and copreneurs' success factors.

The review presented here is wide-ranging and holistic, showing there is a shortage of research on the link between family business and copreneurs, whose conceptual difference lies in the construct of business succession since most researchers have studied psychological aspects, these couples' marital relationships and the factors contributing to conflict between work and domestic responsibilities.

The aim of the research was to explore the lead roles taken by women in some successful small copreneurial companies by studying similar small firms in one sector.

Here, a multiple case study approach was selected, using narrative as a key focus, to explore the way the business had been set up, and its subsequent growth. The role of both partners was also explored, plus strategy, leadership and work: life balance.

New insights emerge about copreneurship where females take lead roles in management, both at start up and through company development. Female partners had an equal or overriding need for achievement to their partners, possessed great self confidence, perceived no barriers to women in business, took a strategic role in the firm from start up through development, drew salaries equal to their male partners and managed life at home and at work.

The case study approach gives insights but other studies are needed, both quantitative and qualitative, to identify whether these were isolated examples or a common experience for copreneurial firms or for this sector. Two had left scientific jobs to start a food product business – an unexpected finding, requiring further study given the poor records for female participation in UK science professions.

The study provides insights for those agencies supporting business development by adding to the role models and images of women taking a lead role.

The study focuses on an under‐researched area. Here, the five female copreneurs perceive themselves – and are perceived – as entrepreneurs, taking a lead and developing strategic vision for the firm. This is an under‐researched aspect of female enterprise.

The purpose of this paper is to engage with contemporary gender and entrepreneurship theories to gain insights into the division of labour, capitals and capacities and gendered identities within husband and wife heterosexual copreneurial businesses. This paper acknowledges copreneurship as a constituent sub group of research within family business and in doing so, the wider small business domain.

A multiple exploratory interview approach was used, with data generated through face-to-face in-depth interviews and ethnographic participant – observer multi-setting observation. This approach provided exceedingly rich and detailed data, and thus insights into the complex relationships found within copreneurial businesses.

The interviews generated a large amount of qualitative data, which were organised into themes through a process of recursive abstraction. Expelling the myth of the “male lead entrepreneur”, this study found that entrepreneurial identity and roles and responsibilities within a copreneurial business are shared and complementary, and are dependent upon the unique capacities and capitals of each partner. While there is evidence of duties that could be stereotypically described as either “men’s work or women’s work”, there was no apparent role tension between the partners. Thus, no partner’s contribution was deemed more valuable than the other.

By examining the division of labour and unique value/contribution of both men and women within the copreneurial/familial relationship the stereotyped perception of the husband being the lead (male) entrepreneur is challenged in favour of the more complementary capacities, roles, responsibilities and, thus, value of each actor/participant.