Does socio-emotional selectivity really matter? Self-employment of seniors in Peru

Purpose: This study aims to identify the main motives for senior individuals in the Peruvian context to actively engage in entrepreneurial activities. The second purpose of this study is to identify the main challenges those senior entrepreneurs face. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical data is collected through an ethnographic study followed by semi-structured interviews with a sample of 32 senior entrepreneurs working in Peru. The team members used the Gioia mechanism to analyze their data. Findings: The authors identified the following factors as the main motives for seniors to actively engage in entrepreneurial activities in Peru: socio-economic factors (finding a source of income, creating jobs for their children and continuing to financially support their families), personal factors (considerable level of wisdom, leaving a good legacy and having the entrepreneurial requirements) and retirement-related factors (available time, the longevity of Peruvians and guaranteed familial support). Moreover, the authors perceived the uncertainty of the work environment and technological illiteracy as the two main challenges senior entrepreneurs face in Peru. Originality/value: This paper comes to be the first, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, in addressing self-employment of seniors in the context of Latin America. Hence, it yields further research opportunities for interested scholars.