spouse

J Fam Econ Iss (2009) 30:372–385
DOI 10.1007/s10834-009-9169-4

ORIGINAL PAPER

Spousal Roles on Motivations for Entrepreneurship: A Qualitative
Study in New Zealand
Jodyanne Kirkwood

Published online: 26 August 2009
Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009

Abstract Little is known about the role the spouse plays in an entrepreneur’s motivations for entrepreneurship. A gender comparative qualitative study is presented, based on interviews with 68 entrepreneurs (45 men and 23 women) in New Zealand. A continuum of spousal support is described—those whose spouses are co-founders, supportive spouses, and unsupportive/ambivalent spouses.
Findings show that women and men tend to have different expectations of their spouse when contemplating starting a business. A woman looks to her husband for business advice, for support, and encouragement and considers the effects that starting a business may have on her spouse. A man tends to assume support is forthcoming, and some men start businesses without explicit spousal support. Contributions to theories of family business are made.
Keywords Co-founders Á Entrepreneurs Á Gender Á
Motivations Á Spouse Á Support

Introduction
While the family and the business have been studied as two separate systems, recently more awareness has been placed on examining the importance of the interface between the business and the family (Duncan et al. 2000; Heck et al.
2008; Hennon et al. 1998; Masuo et al. 2001). In fact, Dew
(2008) found family businesses have featured strongly as a theme in his review of research in the Journal of Family and Economic issues over the past 20 years. This study
J. Kirkwood (&)
Department of Management, School of Business,
University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand e-mail: [e-mail]

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centers on the role that business founders’ spouses play in relation to their motivations for entrepreneurship. In this study the term spouse is used as an umbrella term for wife, husband, partner, or a

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