Determinants of Micro-Entrepreneurs’ Financial Success in Tunisia: Evidence from PLS-SEM and a Multi-Capital Framework

Najla Wannès, Anis Jarboui

Financial performance represents one of the most widely used dimensions for assessing entrepreneurial success. The ability of micro-entrepreneurs to achieve satisfactory financial outcomes depends on the resources they are able to acquire and leverage throughout their entrepreneurial journey. These resources generally encompass human, social, financial, and psychological capital. Although prior research has widely examined the roles of human, social, and financial capital, the role of psychological capital has received comparatively less attention, especially in emerging economies like Tunisia.
The present research aims to investigate how different forms of capital contribute to the financial performance of micro-entrepreneurs in Tunisia. In order to achieve this objective, data were gathered from a sample of 105 microentrepreneurs through a structured survey instrument. The proposed relationships were subsequently examined using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM).
The empirical findings demonstrate that strong social ties and financial capital positively affect financial performance. Regarding psychological capital, optimism and resilience are identified as important drivers of improved financial outcomes. Conversely, self-efficacy exhibits a negative relationship with financial performance, whereas hope does not exert a statistically significant influence. Moreover, the findings suggest that neither human capital nor demographic and network-related factors—such as network size, weak ties, age, and gender—have a statistically significant effect on financial performance.
Taken together, these results indicate that the financial performance of micro-entrepreneurs stems from the combined influence of several categories of resources, rather than being explained by a single factor. Accordingly, initiatives designed to support micro-entrepreneurs should extend beyond facilitating access to financial resources and also promote the development of social connections and psychological strengths.