Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Towards a conceptual understanding of sustainability-driven entrepreneurship

Haldar, Stuti LU (2019) In Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management 26(6). p.1157-1170
Abstract

In common discourse, economic activities run by profit-oriented managers and entrepreneurs are considered to be at the root of social and ecological crisis and hence, hamper sustainable development. With this perspective, government, policymaking institutions, and civil societies take the center stage in shaping a sustainability-oriented industry by using the tools of command and control to curb the negative environmental and social impacts of business. However, this view not only overestimates the role of legal regulations and policies but also underestimates and, in a sense, distorts the relationship between innovative entrepreneurial activities and sustainable development. With growing impetus in the domain of sustainable... (More)

In common discourse, economic activities run by profit-oriented managers and entrepreneurs are considered to be at the root of social and ecological crisis and hence, hamper sustainable development. With this perspective, government, policymaking institutions, and civil societies take the center stage in shaping a sustainability-oriented industry by using the tools of command and control to curb the negative environmental and social impacts of business. However, this view not only overestimates the role of legal regulations and policies but also underestimates and, in a sense, distorts the relationship between innovative entrepreneurial activities and sustainable development. With growing impetus in the domain of sustainable entrepreneurship since the early 1990s, researchers have increasingly advocated sustainability-driven entrepreneurs and managers as the core movers of sustainable production and consumption. Presently, sustainable entrepreneurship remains an extremely relevant yet under researched area of investigation. Debates regarding semantic and practical approaches to sustainability-oriented entrepreneurs impede empirical and theoretical developments in this area. Hence, in the context of the existent gap in literature, this study adopts a qualitative approach to conceptualize sustainable entrepreneurship, by building upon a typology of this phenomenon. In doing so, the overlapping yet conceptually distinct terms, “green” entrepreneurship, “social” entrepreneurship, and “institutional” entrepreneurship are incorporated to understand how entrepreneurs induce sustainable innovations to meet the objectives of social benefits and profit maximization in the context of changing market indicators. The relevance of the study lies in its theoretical as well as practical implications as it attempts to develop a framework to identify, under which specific conditions a particular firm is most likely to adopt sustainable innovations, hence, indicating the need to refine and extend the existing models of sustainable entrepreneurship with respect to motivations for sustainability innovations.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
entrepreneurship, green entrepreneurship, institutional entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, sustainability
in
Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management
volume
26
issue
6
pages
14 pages
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85065513094
ISSN
1535-3958
DOI
10.1002/csr.1763
language
English
LU publication?
no
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment
id
b15c11f7-7c35-485d-b114-779c2f27d9e9
date added to LUP
2022-11-13 22:24:53
date last changed
2023-02-20 10:42:54
@article{b15c11f7-7c35-485d-b114-779c2f27d9e9,
  abstract     = {{<p>In common discourse, economic activities run by profit-oriented managers and entrepreneurs are considered to be at the root of social and ecological crisis and hence, hamper sustainable development. With this perspective, government, policymaking institutions, and civil societies take the center stage in shaping a sustainability-oriented industry by using the tools of command and control to curb the negative environmental and social impacts of business. However, this view not only overestimates the role of legal regulations and policies but also underestimates and, in a sense, distorts the relationship between innovative entrepreneurial activities and sustainable development. With growing impetus in the domain of sustainable entrepreneurship since the early 1990s, researchers have increasingly advocated sustainability-driven entrepreneurs and managers as the core movers of sustainable production and consumption. Presently, sustainable entrepreneurship remains an extremely relevant yet under researched area of investigation. Debates regarding semantic and practical approaches to sustainability-oriented entrepreneurs impede empirical and theoretical developments in this area. Hence, in the context of the existent gap in literature, this study adopts a qualitative approach to conceptualize sustainable entrepreneurship, by building upon a typology of this phenomenon. In doing so, the overlapping yet conceptually distinct terms, “green” entrepreneurship, “social” entrepreneurship, and “institutional” entrepreneurship are incorporated to understand how entrepreneurs induce sustainable innovations to meet the objectives of social benefits and profit maximization in the context of changing market indicators. The relevance of the study lies in its theoretical as well as practical implications as it attempts to develop a framework to identify, under which specific conditions a particular firm is most likely to adopt sustainable innovations, hence, indicating the need to refine and extend the existing models of sustainable entrepreneurship with respect to motivations for sustainability innovations.</p>}},
  author       = {{Haldar, Stuti}},
  issn         = {{1535-3958}},
  keywords     = {{entrepreneurship; green entrepreneurship; institutional entrepreneurship; social entrepreneurship; sustainability}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{11}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{1157--1170}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management}},
  title        = {{Towards a conceptual understanding of sustainability-driven entrepreneurship}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/csr.1763}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/csr.1763}},
  volume       = {{26}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}