Articles
Frank-Martin Belz & Julia Katharina Binder, Sustainability Entrepreneurship: A Process Model (2013), available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2255496.
Abstract (adapted from authors): Sustainability Entrepreneurship (sometimes also referred to as “Sustainable Entrepreneurship”) is an emerging stream of research. We define sustainability entrepreneurship as the process of recognizing, developing and exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities that create economic, ecological, and social value. Up to date the academic discourse on sustainable development within the mainstream entrepreneurship literature has been sparse, and there are relatively few empirical studies. There is little known about the process of sustainability entrepreneurship: Is it the same, similar or different in comparison to conventional entrepreneurship? The findings indicate that in comparison to conventional entrepreneurship the SEP is similar in some respect, and yet different in others. Based on a systematic literature review the authors suggest a model of the SEP, which consists of the following six phases: 1) recognizing socio-ecological problems; 2) recognizing entrepreneurial opportunities; 3) aligning socio-ecological problems with entrepreneurial opportunities; 4) developing an integral sustainability market solution; 5) forming a sustainability enterprise; and 6) entering the (sustainability) market.
Frank-Martin Belz & Julia Katharina Binder, Sustainable Entrepreneurial Processes: An Explorative Investigation (2013), available athttp://ssrn.com/abstract=2336464.
Abstract (adapted from authors): Despite the prevalence of sustainable development on political and public agendas in the last 25 years, current production and consumption practices are not sustainable and contribute to the degradation of the natural environment. An emerging stream of research has recently gained considerable attention as it posits that entrepreneurship provides a solution to the challenges associated with sustainable development. To investigate sustainable entrepreneurial processes (SEP), the authors conducted a qualitative study, employing a multiple case study design for theory development. The authors selected six cases of newly founded sustainable enterprises, including CoffeeCircle, Globe Hope, Greenriders, Polarstern, Mia Höyto, and Netcycler. These selections represent cases from different countries (Germany and Finland), categories (tangible and intangible products) and industries (food, textile, mobility, energy, cosmetics, trade) to allow analytical induction and generalization. Based on the empirical data we developed two models of SEP, which consist of three phases (recognition, development, and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities), including the following activities: recognizing socio-ecological problems; recognizing entrepreneurial opportunities; aligning socio-ecological problems and entrepreneurial opportunities; developing an integral sustainable opportunity; funding and forming a sustainable enterprise; as well as creating or entering sustainable markets. The findings imply that SEP might occur in different sequences. While the majority of cases went through a linear sequence of activities, two out of six cases experienced a convergent sequence of activities in their SEP. In comparison to conventional entrepreneurship the authors found three distinct features of sustainable entrepreneurship: 1) recognizing socio-ecological problems, 2) aligning socio-ecological problems and entrepreneurial opportunities, and 3) developing an integral sustainable opportunity are distinct activities for sustainable entrepreneurship.
Katja Crnogaj et al., Building a Model of Researching the Sustainable Entrepreneurship in the Tourism Sector, 43 Kybernetes 377 (2014).
Abstract (by authors): The tourism sector is heavily dependent on entrepreneurship and cannot survive in the long run if it is not both sustainable and entrepreneurial at the same time; these three areas – entrepreneurship, sustainability, and tourism – are rarely linked in research and are not reflected in appropriate policy-making measures. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual multilevel model that will provide a requisitely holistic means for studying sustainable entrepreneurship in the tourism sector. In the process of developing a model, the authors took into account the principle of requisite variety and considered various dimensions related to sustainable entrepreneurship implicated at three levels of analysis – namely, individual (entrepreneur), organizational (SME), and national/regional (tourism destination).
The proposed model provides systemic and systematic views on sustainable entrepreneurship in the tourism sector and contains various levels of analysis. The holistic framework for studying sustainable entrepreneurship in the tourism helps highlight influential elements from an economics point of view as well as their measurable and internationally comparable outcomes. The suggested model represents an initial step toward the measurement of sustainable entrepreneurship in tourism at various levels, thereby making a valuable contribution to future research designs seeking to evaluate the benefits of sustainable entrepreneurship. The paper provides an important foundation for evidence-based policy making with the aim of fostering requisitely holistic behavior and innovative, responsible, and sustainable entrepreneurship practices in the tourism sector.
Anestis K. Fotiadis, Chris A. Vassiliadis & Panayotis D. Rekleitis, Constraints and Benefits of Sustainable Development: A Case Study Based on the Perceptions of Small-Hotel Entrepreneurs in Greece, 24 Anatolia - An Int’l J. Tourism & Hospitality Res. 144 (2013).
Abstract (by authors): This study examined the perceptions of small- and middle-size hotel entrepreneurs of the benefits and constraints of sustainability and business development. Results indicated that the hotel owners’ interest in sustainable tourism development is related to how it can enable them to achieve environmental and social benefits for their enterprises. The basic reasons which inhibit them from adopting sustainable development practices are the high cost of investment and the uncertain payment of this cost. The major academic contribution of this study is the application of a model that integrates micro-perspectives to explore constraints and benefits related to sustainable development in the context of the hotel industry in Greece.
David Gibbs, Sustainability Entrepreneurs, Ecopreneurs and the Development of a Sustainable Economy, 55 Greener Mgm’t Int’l 63 (2009).
Abstract (from author): This paper focuses on investigating the role that sustainability entrepreneurship may have in engendering a shift in the practices and operations of contemporary capitalism. Sustainability entrepreneurs are increasingly seen as being in the vanguard of a shift to a new form of capitalist development that can help to address fears over global warming, climate change and their associated negative environmental impacts. Such developments can be set within a wider popular and academic discourse of ecological modernisation, at the heart of which is a relatively optimistic view of the potential for technological change to lead to solutions for environmental problems. This paper focuses on a subset of sustainable entrepreneurs termed 'ecopreneurs' who seek to combine business practice with sustainable development and so transform their business sectors. The paper suggests that work on sustainable entrepreneurship could be substantially improved by an engagement with the literature on transition management in science and technology studies and makes some suggestions as to how such a research agenda could be advanced.
Kent Gilges, A Case Study: Elements of Success in Environmental Entrepreneurship (PERC Research, Paper No. 12-18, 2012), available athttp://ssrn.com/abstract=2141338.
Abstract (by author): The volume of capital that is being directed at companies with an Environmental-Social Governance (ESG) best practices approach has grown significantly in the past 15 years. According to the Social Investment Forum Foundation, professionally managed assets following Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) strategies in 2010 included $3.07 trillion in total assets under management. This has grown from approximately $639 billion in 1995. The subset of ESG investing, often dubbed “Impact Investing,” has increasingly become an interest of some foundations and high net worth individuals who seek to accomplish social or environmental programmatic goals alongside market-based returns. This approach looks for businesses that incorporate social or environmental outcomes as a stated objective paired with financial goals. Efforts to pair these environmental and economic goals are often called double bottom line businesses, or “double-E” businesses. Efforts to incorporate environmental, equity (social justice), and economic goals are called triple-bottom line, or “triple-E,” businesses.
Joseph Karl Grant, When Making Money and Making a Sustainable and Societal Difference Collide: Will Benefit Corporations Succeed or Fail? 46 Ind. L. Rev. 581 (2013).
Abstract (by author): This article explores benefit corporations as a tool entrepreneurs can use to make money, foster environmental sustainability, and create societal improvement. Part I briefly examines who has been advocating for the creation and passage of benefit corporation legislation in the United States. Part II analyzes the statutory requirements to form a benefit corporation. Specifically, Part II discusses the issues of purpose, accountability, transparency, rights of action, and enforcement of those rights in connection with the creation and operation of a benefit corporation. Part III highlights the states that have passed benefit corporation statutes and highlights those considering similar legislation. Part IV examines the pre-existing use of benefit entities, in unincorporated form, through exploration of the benefit certification process. Finally, Part V offers a future prognosis and debates whether benefit corporations will succeed or fail.
Geoffrey Gareth Jones & Andrew Spadafora, Waste, Recycling and Entrepreneurship in Central and Northern Europe, 1870-1940 (Harvard Business School General Management Unit, Working Paper No. 14-084, 2014), available athttp://ssrn.com/abstract=2404487.
Abstract (by authors): This working paper examines the role of entrepreneurs in the municipal solid waste industry in industrialized central and northern Europe from the late nineteenth century to the 1940s. It explores the emergence of numerous German, Danish and other European entrepreneurial firms explicitly devoted to making a profitable business out of conserving and returning valuable resources to productive use, while maintaining public sanitation and in many cases offering nascent environmental protections. These ventures were qualitatively different from both earlier small-scale private waste traders, and the late twentieth-century integrated waste management firms, and have been neglected in an era that historians have treated as a period of municipalization. These entrepreneurs sometimes had strikingly modern views of environmental challenges and the need to overcome them. They initiated processes for sorting and recycling waste materials that are still employed today. Yet it proved difficult to combine making profits and achieving social value in accordance with the "shared value" model of today. As providers of public goods such as health and sanitation and a cleaner environment the entrepreneurs were often unable to capture sufficient profits to sustain businesses. Recycled-goods markets were volatile. There was also a tension between the constant waste stream on the collection side and a seasonal/cyclical demand for recycled products. The frequent failure of these businesses helps to explain why in more recent decades private waste companies have been associated with late entry into recycling, often trailing municipal governments and non-profit entities.
Susanna Khavul & Garry D. Bruton, Harnessing Innovation for Change: Sustainability and Poverty in Developing Countries, 50 J. Mgmt. Stud. 285 (2013), available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2224468.
Abstract (by authors): To date, a well‐developed business perspective on how to promote sustainability for those in poverty is sorely lacking. For sustainability enhancing innovations in developing countries, poverty presents unique challenges. In this paper, the authors argue that if sustainability enhancing innovations introduced in developing countries are to stick, they need to be designed with local customers, networks, and business ecosystems in mind. This paper illustrates this view using case examples from mobile telephony, fuel efficient stoves, clean drinking water, and household electrification. The study underscores the need for today's managers to understand poverty as an integral part of the sustainability nexus and the new international business equation.
Jason Jay & Marine Gerard, Accelerating the Theory and Practice of Sustainability-Oriented Innovation (MIT Sloan Research Paper No. 5148-15, 2015), available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2629683.
Abstract (adapted from authors): The purpose of this paper is to provide a broad understanding of the concept and process of sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI). It provides a useful starting point for people aiming to invest human, financial, and other resources in innovations that improve the world. Our ideal readers might include: an entrepreneur wanting to understand sustainability as a business opportunity; a financier aiming to invest in an SOI to diversify the portfolio; a corporate R&D group seeking to integrate sustainability into its innovation process; a corporate strategy or venture capital group considering strategic investments in SOI; a corporate sustainability group looking to support top-line growth through innovation; a public agency willing to craft regulations and policies to spur SOI; graduate students considering entry into any of these roles. Our goal is to provide the basis for a common language and understanding of the intersection between sustainability, technology and innovation, business, and regulation.
The paper is divided in four parts. The first two parts give the reader an overview of the territory and characteristics of SOI, and the process through which it happens. Having identified both the stakes and challenges associated with SOI, the third part makes the case for building Centers of Excellence dedicated to increasing the success rate of SOI. Finally, the fourth part reflects on what dimensions and questions might be considered to evaluate SOIs in their early stages in order to guide improvements or select among different SOI proposals.
Pablo Munoz, A Fuzzy Set Approach to Empirical Typologies in Sustainability Entrepreneurship (Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference, 2012),available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2004352.
Abstract (adapted from author): There is a growing recognition that modern societies face a number of structural problems primarily derived from unsustainable business practices. In this regard, sustainability oriented entrepreneurs are seen as key agents of change and creators of sustainable growth and development. This paper pursues two aims: (1) to empirically identify sustainability entrepreneurs using criteria that go beyond an overall commitment to sustainability and involve a more complex set of characteristics; (2) to organize the potential heterogeneity of sustainability entrepreneur into coherent typology that can facilitate further understanding and theorizing on this topic. This paper makes a broader contribution to both theorizing and research design in the study of entrepreneurial processes and outcomes. It provides refined knowledge and theoretical language on complex causation that facilitate the construction of arguments based on the logic of necessary and sufficient conditions. In addition, it offers a reliable technique for delineating empirical cases of interest that can help ensures rigor and reliability of further studies of both descriptive and explanatory nature.
Thomas Lans, Vincent Blok & Renate Wesselink, Learning Apart and Together: Towards an Integrated Competence Framework for Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Higher Education, 62 J. Cleaner Production 37 (2014).
Abstract (by authors): Sustainable entrepreneurs, i.e. those who proactively facilitate latent demands for sustainable development, are now in higher demand than ever before. Higher (business) education can play an important role in laying the foundation for these sustainable entrepreneurs. Traditionally, however, educational scholars focus either on the issue of education for sustainability or on entrepreneurship education. There is little work which explores and/or crosses the boundaries between these two disciplines, let alone work in which an effort is made to integrate these perspectives. In this article, a competence approach was taken as a first step to link the worlds of education for entrepreneurship and for sustainability because the authors postulate that both, apparently different, worlds can reinforce each other. Based on a literature review, focus group discussions with teachers in higher education (n = 8) and a structured questionnaire among students (n = 211), a set of clear, distinct competencies was developed, providing stepping stones for monitoring students’ sustainable entrepreneurship development in school-based environments.
Alain Ndedi & Paulin Mbecke Za-mulamba, Why it Matters? Empowering Students to Think and Latter to Act Green as Entrepreneurs or Intrapreneurs (2015), available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2685770.
Abstract (adapted from authors): Environmental degradation is one of the most prominent global issues of the 21st century. Academics, policymakers, nongovernmental agencies (NGOs) and governments are all concerned about the increasing levels of land degradation, soil erosion, deforestation, and industrial toxins. Given the present environmental problems facing the world, it is clear that past strategies used to address these challenges have failed to prevent environmental degradation. Scholars agree that entrepreneurs of all sorts can help preserve our ecosystems, counteract climate change, improve fresh water supply, maintain biodiversity, trash and climate change,
The current paper reviews some practical examples of ‘going green’ at school that could be duplicated in various countries around the world. The paper recommends that teachers instill in their learners the ‘three Rs’ that stand for Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Students must be trained to show their creativity and think like engineers as they design products or services that can be used to improve environmental problems in their respective communities. While being aware of the steps of the engineering design process, students must be challenged to consider all aspects of their products and services, including their costs, and impact on the environment and the people in their communities.
Amina Omrane, Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development: The Role of Business Models (2013), available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=2232438.
Abstract (by author): Faced with challenges raised by sustainable development, several nations, and … other social actors, are questioning their roles and wish to take proactive approaches of social responsibility. However, in general they have few means to achieve their objectives. The purpose of this communication is to show that social entrepreneurship, as an assistance tool for the government and applied to the resolution of social problems, can provide an analysis framework in order to provide a response to the challenges of sustainable development. In order to achieve this, we have to show the usefulness of the different business models developed in social entrepreneurship, particularly in the European context. We conclude that social business models constitute a basic relay that allows social entrepreneurs to contribute actively to sustainable development.
Bradley D. Parrish & Timothy J. Foxon, Sustainability Entrepreneurship and Equitable Transitions to a Low-Carbon Economy, 55 Greener Mgm’t Int’l 47 (2009).
Abstract (from authors): Sustainability-driven entrepreneurs design ventures with the primary intention of contributing to improved environmental quality and social well-being in ways that are mutually supportive. It has been suggested that these entrepreneurs can function as important catalysts to larger-scale socioeconomic structural transformations toward sustainability. However, the actual mechanisms underlying such a role are empirically under-researched and theoretically underdeveloped. In this study we investigate the possible catalytic role of sustainability entrepreneurship in the equitable transition to a low-carbon economy. We do this by developing a co-evolutionary framework that links the interactive dynamics of change in technologies, institutions and business strategies, and use this framework to analyse an empirical case study of NativeEnergy, an innovative, for-profit, marketing and finance company launched in the context of the evolving US energy industry. The Article concludes by assessing the more general lessons that may be drawn about the role of sustainability entrepreneurs as catalysts to socioeconomic structural transformations.
Holger Patzelt & Dean A. Shepherd, Recognizing Opportunities for Sustainable Development, 35 Entrepren. Theory & Prac. 631 (2011).
Abstract (adapted from journal): Building on the entrepreneurial action and sustainable development literatures, the authors highlight how the current explanations of opportunity recognition, based on entrepreneurial knowledge and economic motivation, are insufficient for modeling the recognition of opportunities for sustainable development. The model suggests that entrepreneurs are more likely to discover sustainable development opportunities the greater their knowledge of natural and communal environments become, the more they perceive that the natural and communal environment in which they live is threatened, and the greater their altruism toward others becomes. The authors propose that entrepreneurial knowledge plays a central role by moderating these effects.
V. Jean Ramsey & John H. Williams, Small Business and Clean Air Regulations: Issues and Problems, 8 J. Bus. & Entrepreneurship 53-69 (1996).
Ron Shaffer, Achieving Sustainable Economic Development in Communities, 26 J. Cmty. Dev. Soc’y, 145-154 (1995).
Fiona Tilley & William Young, Sustainability Entrepreneurs, 55 Greener Mgm’t Int’l 79 (2009).
Abstract (from authors): This paper presents a model of sustainability entrepreneurship that suggests sustainability entrepreneurs could potentially be the true wealth generators of the future. Entrepreneurship has been linked to wealth creation and economic growth and consequently been promoted and encouraged in modern society. In more recent times, with the increased awareness of environmental and social problems the theory of ecological modernisation has been presented as an explanation for how entrepreneurship can reconcile the twin goals of sustainable development and wealth accumulation. However, the limitations of ecological modernisation theory suggest this may not be the panacea some first thought, thus opening up the debate for an alternative model of entrepreneurship based on the principles of sustainability. This in turn is linked to a broader more radical definition of wealth that goes beyond a narrow financial scope to a more integrated approach that incorporates environmental and social forms of wealth alongside the traditional economic forms.
Rosalinde Klein Woolthuis et al., Institutional Entrepreneurship in Sustainable Urban Development: Dutch Successes as Inspiration for Transformation, 50 J. Cleaner Production 91 (2013).
Abstract (adapted from authors): Sustainable urban development is a wicked problem. On the basis of three case studies, the authors conclude that institutional entrepreneurs play an important role in sustainable urban development. The question the authors address is how institutional entrepreneurs do this. They theorize and find six tactics that entrepreneurs employ to influence both formal and informal institutions to create a favorable institutional context for sustainable development by combining insights from both institutional theory and institutional economics. Through framing and theorizing institutional entrepreneurs create new visions on sustainable urban developments, whereas collaboration and lobbying are important for the realization of the projects. The study adds new insights into how negotiation (private governance contracts, property rights) and standardization (certification, standards) form a key to altering incentive schemes and to create a competitive advantage. Through the joint changes in both informal institutions and the formal institutions the entrepreneurs are able to change the institutional context in which projects are embedded, thereby increasing the feasibility of their projects.
Jeffrey G. York & S. Venkataraman, The Entrepreneur-Environment Nexus: Uncertainty, Innovation, and Allocation (Batten Institute, Research Paper No. 2010 Y2, 2010), available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1615041.
Abstract (adapted from authors): The authors build upon a recent stream of research that has proposed entrepreneurship as a solution to, rather than a cause of, environmental degradation. Their proposition is that under certain conditions entrepreneurs are likely to supplement, or surpass, the efforts of governments, NGOs and existing firms to achieve environmental sustainability. Entrepreneurs can contribute to solving environmental problems through helping extant institutions in achieving their goals and by creating new, more environmentally sustainable products, services and institutions. Their model illustrates how entrepreneurs 1) address environmental uncertainty, 2) provide innovation and 3) engage in resource allocation to address environmental degradation.