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In Malaysia, women dominate many sectors particularly those related to small business sectors. It is crucial to realize that participation of women entrepreneurs through the informal economy can support the development of their family. The development of women entrepreneurship is crucial for creating a vibrant and dynamic economy in Malaysia. The objective of this study is to determine the moderating effect of a supportive environment toward the relationship of entrepreneurial competencies and the performance of informal enterprises owned and managed by women micro-entrepreneurs in Kelantan, Malaysia. This study adopted a cross-sectional design and a purposive random sampling method using quantitative data from 384 informal women micro-entrepreneurs in Kelantan, Malaysia. The sampling frame was based on an informal sector's workforce survey report, Malaysia-2013. Based on the report, the total number of population of informal women micro-entrepreneurs in Kelantan is 534 000. The informal women entrepreneurs were drawn from six districts in Kelantan, Malaysia, which are Kota Bharu, Tanah Merah, Pasir Puteh, Tumpat, Machang, and Ketereh. Findings of this study revealed that opportunity recognition competencies, relationship competencies, and commitment competencies have a positive and significant effect on the performance of informal microenterprises owned and managed by women entrepreneurs in Kelantan, Malaysia. Findings also reported a significant moderating effect of a supportive environment on the commitment competency and the performance of informal microenterprises. To improve the socio-economic condition of the low-income informal women micro-entrepreneurs and their households, development programs and policies should therefore focus on improving informal entrepreneurs' capacity to recognize and take advantage of new income generating opportunities. As for the informal women micro-entrepreneurs, it is crucial to recognize their significant positive role, and therefore accumulate relational and commitment competencies to improve the performance of their informal microenterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The participation of women entrepreneurs are rapidly increasing over last few decades and studies highlighted women entrepreneurship is one of the key contributors for economic development through speeds up development process, reduces poverty unemployment and inequalities, and improves the overall well-being of children. Development initiatives allover the world, therefore, focused on improving the socio-economic condition of low-income households through providing access to working capital and/or other resources to improve entrepreneurial performance. Development initiatives, however, commonly ignore the potential impact of social capital. Social capital is the most under-rated influential factor, which may have a strong influence on entrepreneurial competencies and enterprise performance. This study therefore aimed to examine the effect of social capital on entrepreneurial competencies among the women micro-entrepreneurs in Peninsular Malaysia. This study employs a cross-sectional approach and quantitative data are collected through structured interviews from registered women micro-entrepreneurs in Peninsular Malaysia. The sampling frame was based on the business directory of SME Corporation Malaysia's registered members of National Association of Women Entrepreneurs. Based on the list of registered women entrepreneurs under the SME Corporation Malaysia, there are a total of 126,910 registered SMEs in Malaysia, owned by women entrepreneurs; among them, 111,571 are registered microenterprises. This research adopted the stratified random sampling method in order to identify 500 women entrepreneurs from the four regions. Among the selected 500 micro-entrepreneurs, a total of 421 microentrepreneurs were selected based on their recent status (active, own, and manage) and size. Among them, only 4 women micro-entrepreneurs refused the request for an interview; therefore, complete data were collected from 417 women micro-entrepreneurs. Findings of this study noted the r? values in the hierarchical entrepreneurial competency model noted that the degree of explained variance of this hierarchical construct is reflected in its components. The r? values in the hierarchical social capital model noted that the degree of explained variances of the hierarchical construct is reflected in its components. The path coefficient between social capital and entrepreneurial competencies is 0.495, indicates a positive effect of social capital on entrepreneurial competencies at the chosen 5% level of significance. Women entrepreneurs should be focusing on how to identify and reach key business players and spend time to network with other business by joining formal and informal networks. Development policies and programs in Malaysia should therefore focus on building social capital among microentrepreneurs to foster the national development process and reduces poverty, unemployment rate and inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]