Context really matters: why do women artisans in the Peruvian context avoid the sole ownership of their enterprises?

Purpose The aim of this paper is to find out why women artisans in Peru avoid the sole ownership of their enterprises while preferring to work in associations. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 28 women artisans in Peru during their participation in a fair organized by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture in Lima (Peru). Thematic analysis was subsequently used to develop the main themes and sub-themes of the study. Findings The authors of the present study have found that women artisans in Peru choose to work in associations instead of via the sole ownership of their enterprises because of the following three categories of motives: contextual (low operational cost of family-owned associations, more compliance with the surrounding institutional context), cultural (commitment to parenting, experiencing less marginalization, zero responsibility, and greater work flexibility) and marketing-related motives (eliciting more social support, guaranteeing more invitations to participate in artisanal fairs). Originality/value This paper contributes by filling a gap in the literature on artisan entrepreneurship in which studies on women artisans in Latin American contexts and why they choose to work in associations have been limited so far.