Barreras y oportunidades del ecosistema emprendedor desde la perspectiva de mujeres emprendedoras de la ciudad de Babahoyo.

Abstract

This study analyzes the barriers and opportunities of the female entrepreneurial ecosystem in the city of Babahoyo, Ecuador, using a qualitative cross-sectional methodology and Ben Spigel (2017) relational model. Through 50 semi-structured interviews, it was identified that the local ecosystem has a defensive and highly fragmented relational architecture, oriented towards subsistence. The main findings, contrasted with GEM (2025) reports and postulates of feminist economics (Folbre, 1994), reveal that the asymmetric burden of unpaid care work acts as the main cultural barrier. Furthermore, a social capital paradox is evident: although primary family networks serve as an emotional buffer and source of informal micro-financing (Coleman, 1988), the total lack of bridging institutional networks blocks innovation and scaling. Institutionally, punitive bureaucracy and financial exclusion due to patriarchal biases prevail. It is recommended to implement care-focused public policies, redesign financial products, and transform academia into a strategic connector. Future research should focus on longitudinal studies regarding the survival of these microenterprises, the impact of informal digitalization on sales, and comparative analyses with other intermediate cities.