Effect of Pandemic on Women Entrepreneur Sustainability and Post Pandemic Opportunity on SMEs: Case Study of South Punjab

Purpose: The pandemic posed a major challenge to entrepreneurs around the world. Women entrepreneurs contribute significantly to economic growth. The recent pandemic situation impacted their reach to some extent, but women entrepreneurs, with their strong dedication against the crisis, succeeded during this process. Effect of pandemic on women entrepreneur sustainability is examined in this study. Design/Methodology/Approach: Entrepreneurship, Institutional and Social learning theories were used in this study. For conducting this research, the data is gathered from 309 respondents. SPSS is used for descriptive analysis and inferential analysis using the software Smart PLS 3. The provided hypothesis was analyzed in two-step approach using partial least squares structural equation modeling (Smart-PLS 3). Findings: The results show a significant link between the variables. While the pandemic as a moderator showed an insignificant relationship between women's entrepreneur orientation and women's entrepreneur sustainability in SMEs, the moderating role has significant moderation on the relationship between SMEs' growth and women's entrepreneur sustainability in SMEs. Implications/Originality/Value: Increases in women's entrepreneur orientation and SME growth resulted in increases in women's entrepreneur sustainability in SMEs, but the novelty of this study is to describe how pandemics play as moderator roles in women's entrepreneur orientation, SME growth, and women's entrepreneur sustainability in SMEs.