Beyond the silver bullet: How entrepreneurial legacy catalyses formal business support benefits for female entrepreneurs

This article examines the role of business support in addressing the gender-based performance gap among entrepreneurs and whether entrepreneurial legacy from family business backgrounds enhances the effectiveness of such support. Drawing on imprinting theory, we theorise that female entrepreneurs with an entrepreneurial legacy have a greater capacity to leverage formal business support, thereby reducing the gender-based performance gap. Using data on 20,369 U.S. entrepreneurs, we find that female entrepreneurs report significantly lower venture performance than male entrepreneurs and that formal business support alone does not reduce this gap. Notably, entrepreneurial legacy reduces the gender-based performance gap and substantially enhances the effectiveness of formal business support in further narrowing this gap. Our results contextualise the effectiveness of support programmes in addressing gender-based disparities, suggesting that consideration of the entrepreneur’s background can enable them to benefit from support programmes. We contribute to female entrepreneurship and business support literature and offer practical recommendations.