Abstract
Scholars have long highlighted the impact of family on women's entrepreneurship, often oscillating between two competing views. The family-as-a-burden perspective suggests that traditional roles assigned to women constrain their entrepreneurial efforts. In contrast, the family-as-an-asset view emphasizes the vital support provided by family members. This study aims to disentangle these competing perspectives in the context of a developing country by examining how different aspects of family influence women entrepreneurs' operating efficiency and access to external finance. We adopt a mixed-methods approach that combines data from Thailand's Household Socio-Economic Survey with in-depth interviews conducted with 27 Thai women entrepreneurs. Our findings reveal that caregiving responsibilities hinder both business efficiency and financial access, whereas spousal support enhances these outcomes. We also identify moderating mechanisms: extended families and the presence of employees help mitigate certain burdens while simultaneously signaling greater family obligations to lenders, thereby reducing financial access. This study contributes to gender and entrepreneurship research by unpacking the paradoxical role of family as both a constraint and an enabler, highlighting the cultural specificity of women's entrepreneurial challenges in emerging economies.