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This study examines the strategic responses of Chinese female business owners to perceived operational barriers, integrating insights from the Resource-Based View, Signaling Theory, Institutional Theory, and Social Role Theory. Data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey (conducted in China in 2012; the sample comprises 2,700 firms from diverse China’s industries) was analyzed with advanced path modeling techniques. All statistical analyses were conducted using R (version 4.0.2) and SPSS 29. The R packages lavaan and semTools were utilized for implementing Structural Equation Model (SEM) techniques. How female ownership influences diversification strategies was investigated with the mediation effect of business environment barriers and the moderation effect of international certifications. It is revealed that female entrepreneurs are more likely to pursue international diversification due to heightened perceptions of business environment barriers. Perceived regulatory barriers are positively related to product diversification, while perceived business environment barriers are positively related to international diversification. Female business owners perceive operational barriers, particularly business environment challenges, as more significant than their male counterparts, mediating the relationship between female ownership and international diversification. Furthermore, international certifications, while associated with international diversification, attenuate the positive effect of female ownership on international diversification. These insights inform policies aimed at reducing domestic barriers and enhancing access to international markets for female entrepreneurs. Support mechanisms, such as accessible international certifications, can mitigate gender gaps in domestic markets and facilitate global opportunities for female business owners.

In China, which in the past was dominated by state-owned and male-led ventures, female entrepreneurs are now increasingly popular. However, the specific pathways to internationalization for female-owned firms in China and their contribution to the country's economic growth remain unexplored. Based on the principles of the resource-based approach, the article explores the innovative strategies used by Chinese female-owned firms to overcome resource constraints, formal and informal institutional barriers to business internationalization (entering the global markets through indirect exports). The article puts forward and empirically tests 5 sets of hypotheses according to which Chinese female-owned firms are: 1) more efficient in internationalization through indirect export strategies; 2) more inclined to digital innovation; 3) not focused on innovation conversion, but rather on successful adaptation of existing offerings for international markets or efficiency gains; 4) do not prioritize innovation in communication technologies, focusing more on innovation to reach customers, build relationships and enter international markets; 5) use the female business ecosystem to obtain safer pathways to innovation, such as external partnerships or adapting existing technologies, rather than focusing on investing internal R&D with elevated risk. Within each block, 2 additional hypotheses were put forward. They consider the impact of the relevant factor (digital innovation, innovation conversion, communication innovation, internal innovation) on indirect exports and its role in mediating the relationship between female ownership and the success of business internationalization. The study is based on a sample of 2,700 Chinese firms surveyed from November 2011 to March 2013 using the World Bank Enterprise Surveys China 2012 (a comprehensive recoding was performed, adhering to established practices in quantitative research). The control variables are the location of the respondent company in the capital/province, city size and firm size. The study used two types of factor analysis - Exploratory (EFA, including Promax rotation, oblique rotation method) and Confirmatory (CFA, Alpha Cronbach test, full path analysis model, including both direct and indirect effects, Monte Carlo method). SPSS 29 software was used for the data sample and AMOS 26.0 for the modeling process. A direct positive relationship was found between female ownership and indirect exports in China and digital ecosystem innovations, as well as between communication innovations and indirect exports. A significant negative direct relationship was found between female ownership and communication innovations, between digital ecosystem innovations and indirect exports, and between internal innovations on indirect exports. It also reveals the absence of a significant direct impact of innovation conversion on indirect exports. Mediating effects were also confirmed for communication and digital ecosystem innovations; partially for internal innovations; not confirmed for innovation conversion.

This study endeavors to reconcile the limited, mixed findings related to entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility in the family firm context. Specifically, the relationships between entrepreneurial orientation (EO), sustainable investments in environmental and societal initiatives, and the interaction of EO and sustainable investments with family firm performance are evaluated. Data were collected through in-person interviews of 151 top managers of automobile and motorcycle dealerships. Secondary data were collected from ReferenceUSA to confirm the veracity of the primary performance data. Multiple linear regression models were used to evaluate the hypothesized relationships. The results indicate family firms realize higher performance with an EO by being proactive, innovative, and risk-taking. Moreover, sustainable investments are associated with higher family firm performance by either increasing revenues or decreasing costs. EO does not significantly accentuate the positive relationship between sustainable investments and performance. The observed interaction was contrary to expectations with EO acting as a substitute for sustainable investments; firms with an EO use a variety of initiatives, including but not limited to society and the environment, to improve performance. These findings advance the family business literature on entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility theory by establishing EO and socially responsible, sustainable investments as antecedents of family firm performance while also analyzing the EO-sustainable investment interaction.