Ibáñez, María JoséGuerrero, MaribelMahto, Raj2022-02-232022-02-232020María José Ibáñez, Maribel Guerrero & Raj V. Mahto (2020) Women-led SMEs: Innovation and collaboration → performance?, Journal of the International Council for Small Business, 1:3-4, 111-117, DOI: 10.1080/26437015.2020.1850155https://doi.org/10.1080/26437015.2020.1850155http://hdl.handle.net/11447/5573Scholars and practitioners recognize the importance of innovation and collaboration for enhancing business performance.Gender diversity also influences business performance, either directly or indirectly. Gender diversity in a board of directors improves companies’ innovative performance and, consequently, their performance. However, research on innovation in women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is limited, which significantly restricts our understanding of the innovation–performance relationship in such businesses. Thus, in this study, using a sample of 503 women-led SMEs, we show that innovation is not a determinant of businesswomen’s business performance. Our study provides insights into how women-led SMEs deciding to innovate or collaborate are unable to appropriate the benefits suggested in the literature.enWomen CEO;SMEinnovationcollaborativeinnovationfirmperformanceemergingeconomiesArticle