Family and work–life balance mechanisms. What is their impact on the performance of Italian female service firms?

Since 2000, research on female entrepreneurship has evolved substantially; however, some areas of research remain underinvestigated. In particular, to grasp the facets of this growing phenomenon, analysis of the characteristics of female firms in countries that are different from the USA and UK and the consideration of the embeddedness of entrepreneurship in family contexts are strongly needed. Thus, these two areas represent research gaps that this paper aims to address by analysing the influence that the family and work–life balance mechanisms have on the performance of 200 Italian female service firms. Contrary to the authors’ hypotheses, the results show that family does not influence these firms’ performance, and data from work–life balance mechanisms confirm these results.