Affiliations:
1School of Business Management, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok, Malaysia
2School of Languages, Civilisation and Philosophy, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok, Malaysia
The aim of this study is to examine the effects of financial literacy and business networking on the performance of women micro-entrepreneurs in Malaysia, with a focus on participants in the Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia microcredit program. Financial literacy is conceptualized as financial management, saving, and debt literacy, while business networking is measured by network density, reachability, and centrality. Using survey data from 508 respondents and regression analysis, six hypotheses were tested to explore the relationships between these factors and self-reported business performance. The findings indicate that financial management literacy, saving literacy, network density, and network centrality have significant positive effects on performance, whereas debt literacy has a significant negative effect, and network reachability is not significant. These results suggest that practical financial management skills and cohesive, central networks are crucial for women’s entrepreneurial success, while debt literacy does not necessarily translate into better outcomes. The study offers insights for microfinance institutions and policymakers to strengthen financial literacy training and network support to enhance business performance.
Financial literacy, Business networking, Micro-entrepreneurs, Microfinance, Business performance
https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2025.11.015
Rambely, N. A. S., Mustapa, A. N., & Abdullah, S. (2025). Financial literacy, networking, and business performance of women micro-entrepreneurs in Malaysia. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 12(11), 152–164. https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2025.11.015