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To better understand the emergence of small-scale entrepreneurial firms in the under-researched transition economy of Cuba.

Given the scarcity of reliable publicly available information and restrictions on private data collection in Cuba, in-depth interviews were conducted with a panel of small-scale entrepreneurs at three different points in time. Evolutions are analyzed over this period.

Family can overcome institutional constraints by helping the entrepreneur deal with market and social obstacles. Despite the absence of a supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem, these new entrepreneurs and their families have been able to transform longstanding passive attitudes into positive steps to set up new small-scale ventures in a country facing unprecedented internal and external challenges.

A new conceptual model of family support for entrepreneurship in transition economies is presented. The findings lend weight to institutional theory on overcoming constraints in emerging markets and extend the theory of family entrepreneurship to new transition economies.