IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v27y2018i3p300-322.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable Entrepreneurship Research: Taking Stock and looking ahead

Author

Listed:
  • Pablo Muñoz
  • Boyd Cohen

Abstract

The recognition of entrepreneurship as a solution to, rather than a cause of, environmental degradation and social inequality moved the field to identify a new type of entrepreneurial activity, namely sustainable entrepreneurship. Scholarly interest has spiked in recent years; however, aside from its aspirational appeal, there remains a lack of understanding of the nature of the phenomenon and the future of sustainable entrepreneurship in theory and practice. This review seeks to provide a conceptual basis for stimulating scholarly thought and improving our collective understanding of sustainable entrepreneurship as a distinct subdomain within entrepreneurship research. Based on boundary definition and delineation of main features, this review critically discusses the main challenges ahead and elaborates on the research implications and future research directions beyond current, dominant approaches to entrepreneurial action. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Suggested Citation

  • Pablo Muñoz & Boyd Cohen, 2018. "Sustainable Entrepreneurship Research: Taking Stock and looking ahead," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 300-322, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:27:y:2018:i:3:p:300-322
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.2000
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2000
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.2000?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hockerts, Kai & Wüstenhagen, Rolf, 2010. "Greening Goliaths versus emerging Davids -- Theorizing about the role of incumbents and new entrants in sustainable entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 481-492, September.
    2. Cheryl Rodgers, 2010. "Sustainable entrepreneurship in SMEs: a case study analysis," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(3), pages 125-132, May.
    3. Patricia Doyle Corner & Marcus Ho, 2010. "How Opportunities Develop in Social Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(4), pages 635-659, July.
    4. Ardichvili, Alexander & Cardozo, Richard & Ray, Sourav, 2003. "A theory of entrepreneurial opportunity identification and development," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 105-123, January.
    5. Cohen, Boyd & Winn, Monika I., 2007. "Market imperfections, opportunity and sustainable entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 29-49, January.
    6. Wendy Stubbs, 2017. "Sustainable Entrepreneurship and B Corps," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 331-344, March.
    7. Webb, Justin W. & Bruton, Garry D. & Tihanyi, Laszlo & Ireland, R. Duane, 2013. "Research on entrepreneurship in the informal economy: Framing a research agenda," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 598-614.
    8. York, Jeffrey G. & Venkataraman, S., 2010. "The entrepreneur-environment nexus: Uncertainty, innovation, and allocation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 449-463, September.
    9. Kuckertz, Andreas & Wagner, Marcus, 2010. "The influence of sustainability orientation on entrepreneurial intentions -- Investigating the role of business experience," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 524-539, September.
    10. Harris, Jared D. & Sapienza, Harry J. & Bowie, Norman E., 2009. "Ethics and entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 407-418, September.
    11. Muñoz, Pablo & Dimov, Dimo, 2015. "The call of the whole in understanding the development of sustainable ventures," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 632-654.
    12. Allan Gibb & Deepak Adhikary, 2000. "Strategies for local and regional NGO development: combining sustainable outcomes with sustainable organizations," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 137-161, April.
    13. Frank Martin Belz & Julia Katharina Binder, 2017. "Sustainable Entrepreneurship: A Convergent Process Model," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 1-17, January.
    14. William B. Gartner, 1988. "“Who Is an Entrepreneur?†Is the Wrong Question," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 12(4), pages 11-32, April.
    15. Shepherd, Dean A. & Kuskova, Valya & Patzelt, Holger, 2009. "Measuring the values that underlie sustainable development: The development of a valid scale," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 246-256, April.
    16. KruegerJR, Norris F. & Reilly, Michael D. & Carsrud, Alan L., 2000. "Competing models of entrepreneurial intentions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 15(5-6), pages 411-432.
    17. Jeffery S. McMullen & Dimo Dimov, 2013. "Time and the Entrepreneurial Journey: The Problems and Promise of Studying Entrepreneurship as a Process," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(8), pages 1481-1512, December.
    18. Chris Steyaert & Jerome Katz, 2004. "Reclaiming the space of entrepreneurship in society: geographical, discursive and social dimensions," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 179-196, May.
    19. Oliver Baumann & Nicolaj Siggelkow, 2013. "Dealing with Complexity: Integrated vs. Chunky Search Processes," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 116-132, February.
    20. Stefan Schaltegger & Marcus Wagner, 2011. "Sustainable entrepreneurship and sustainability innovation: categories and interactions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(4), pages 222-237, May.
    21. Brendan James Gray & Suzanne Duncan & Jodyanne Kirkwood & Sara Walton, 2014. "Encouraging sustainable entrepreneurship in climate-threatened communities: a Samoan case study," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(5-6), pages 401-430, August.
    22. Martine Spence & Jouhaina Ben Boubaker Gherib & Viviane Ondoua Biwolé, 2011. "Sustainable Entrepreneurship: Is Entrepreneurial will Enough? A North–South Comparison," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 99(3), pages 335-367, March.
    23. Andrea L. Larson, 2000. "Sustainable innovation through an entrepreneurship lens," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(5), pages 304-317, September.
    24. Taiyuan Wang & Pratima Bansal, 2012. "Social responsibility in new ventures: profiting from a long‐term orientation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(10), pages 1135-1153, October.
    25. Thomas Dyllick & Kai Hockerts, 2002. "Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 130-141, March.
    26. Pacheco, Desirée F. & Dean, Thomas J. & Payne, David S., 2010. "Escaping the green prison: Entrepreneurship and the creation of opportunities for sustainable development," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 464-480, September.
    27. Johan Wiklund & Per Davidsson & David B. Audretsch & Charlie Karlsson, 2011. "The Future of Entrepreneurship Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(1), pages 1-9, January.
    28. Jonatan Pinkse & Koen Groot, 2015. "Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Corporate Political Activity: Overcoming Market Barriers in the Clean Energy Sector," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(3), pages 633-654, May.
    29. Carter, Nancy M. & Gartner, William B. & Shaver, Kelly G. & Gatewood, Elizabeth J., 2003. "The career reasons of nascent entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 13-39, January.
    30. Meek, William R. & Pacheco, Desirée F. & York, Jeffrey G., 2010. "The impact of social norms on entrepreneurial action: Evidence from the environmental entrepreneurship context," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 493-509, September.
    31. Gideon D. Markman & Michael Russo & G. T. Lumpkin & P. Devereaux (Dev) Jennings & Johanna Mair, 2016. "Entrepreneurship as a Platform for Pursuing Multiple Goals: A Special Issue on Sustainability, Ethics, and Entrepreneurship," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(5), pages 673-694, July.
    32. Ignasí Martí, 2006. "Introduction to Part I — Setting a Research Agenda for an Emerging Field," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Johanna Mair & Jeffrey Robinson & Kai Hockerts (ed.), Social Entrepreneurship, chapter 2, pages 17-21, Palgrave Macmillan.
    33. Parrish, Bradley D., 2010. "Sustainability-driven entrepreneurship: Principles of organization design," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 510-523, September.
    34. Albert Jolink & Eva Niesten, 2015. "Sustainable Development and Business Models of Entrepreneurs in the Organic Food Industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 386-401, September.
    35. Gita Surie & Allan Ashley, 2008. "Integrating Pragmatism and Ethics in Entrepreneurial Leadership for Sustainable Value Creation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(1), pages 235-246, August.
    36. Zulfiquar N. Ansari & Ravi Kant, 2017. "Exploring the Framework Development Status for Sustainability in Supply Chain Management: A Systematic Literature Synthesis and Future Research Directions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(7), pages 873-892, November.
    37. Clemens, Bruce, 2006. "Economic incentives and small firms: Does it pay to be green?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(4), pages 492-500, April.
    38. Per Davidsson & Johan Wiklund, 2007. "Levels of Analysis in Entrepreneurship Research: Current Research Practice and Suggestions for the Future," Springer Books, in: Álvaro Cuervo & Domingo Ribeiro & Salvador Roig (ed.), Entrepreneurship, pages 245-265, Springer.
    39. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    40. Ted Fuller & Yumiao Tian, 2006. "Social and Symbolic Capital and Responsible Entrepreneurship: An Empirical Investigation of SME Narratives," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 67(3), pages 287-304, September.
    41. Kibler, Ewald & Fink, Matthias & Lang, Richard & Muñoz, Pablo, 2015. "Place attachment and social legitimacy: Revisiting the sustainable entrepreneurship journey," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 3(C), pages 24-29.
    42. Anna Katharina Provasnek & Erwin Schmid & Bernhard Geissler & Gerald Steiner, 2017. "Sustainable Corporate Entrepreneurship: Performance and Strategies Toward Innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 521-535, May.
    43. Harbi, Sana El & Anderson, Alistair R., 2010. "Institutions and the shaping of different forms of entrepreneurship," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 436-444, June.
    44. Dimo Dimov, 2007. "From Opportunity Insight to Opportunity Intention: The Importance of Person–Situation Learning Match," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 31(4), pages 561-583, July.
    45. James Austin & Howard Stevenson & Jane Wei–Skillern, 2006. "Social and Commercial Entrepreneurship: Same, Different, or Both?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 30(1), pages 1-22, January.
    46. Geels, Frank W. & Kemp, René, 2007. "Dynamics in socio-technical systems: Typology of change processes and contrasting case studies," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 441-455.
    47. Hall, Jeremy K. & Daneke, Gregory A. & Lenox, Michael J., 2010. "Sustainable development and entrepreneurship: Past contributions and future directions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 439-448, September.
    48. Juan Florin & Elizabeth Schmidt, 2011. "Creating Shared Value in the Hybrid Venture Arena: A Business Model Innovation Perspective," Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(2), pages 165-197, October.
    49. Fitzsimmons, Jason R. & Douglas, Evan J., 2011. "Interaction between feasibility and desirability in the formation of entrepreneurial intentions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 431-440, July.
    50. Caroline Parkinson & Carole Howorth, 2008. "The language of social entrepreneurs," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 285-309, May.
    51. William Young & Fiona Tilley, 2006. "Can businesses move beyond efficiency? The shift toward effectiveness and equity in the corporate sustainability debate," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(6), pages 402-415, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Matthew P. Johnson & Stefan Schaltegger, 2020. "Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development: A Review and Multilevel Causal Mechanism Framework," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(6), pages 1141-1173, November.
    2. Muñoz, Pablo & Dimov, Dimo, 2015. "The call of the whole in understanding the development of sustainable ventures," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 632-654.
    3. Eduard-Gabriel Ceptureanu & Sebastian-Ion Ceptureanu & Mihai Cristian Orzan & Ovidiu Niculae Bordean & Violeta Radulescu, 2017. "Empirical Study on Sustainable Opportunities Recognition. A Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Joinery Industry Analysis Using Augmented Sustainable Development Process Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-36, September.
    4. Trin Thananusak, 2019. "Science Mapping of the Knowledge Base on Sustainable Entrepreneurship, 1996–2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-20, June.
    5. Diego Matricano, 2017. "The influence of sustainable entrepreneurship culture on start-up expectations: A comparative analysis," RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA', FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(1), pages 71-89.
    6. Brunella Arru, 2020. "An integrative model for understanding the sustainable entrepreneurs’ behavioural intentions: an empirical study of the Italian context," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 3519-3576, April.
    7. Ana Criado-Gomis & Amparo Cervera-Taulet & Maria-Angeles Iniesta-Bonillo, 2017. "Sustainable Entrepreneurial Orientation: A Business Strategic Approach for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-20, September.
    8. Matthias Filser & Sascha Kraus & Norat Roig-Tierno & Norbert Kailer & Ulrike Fischer, 2019. "Entrepreneurship as Catalyst for Sustainable Development: Opening the Black Box," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-18, August.
    9. Denise Fischer & Malte Brettel & René Mauer, 2020. "The Three Dimensions of Sustainability: A Delicate Balancing Act for Entrepreneurs Made More Complex by Stakeholder Expectations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 87-106, April.
    10. Paul Sarango-Lalangui & Jane Lucia S. Santos & Esther Hormiga, 2018. "The Development of Sustainable Entrepreneurship Research Field," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-19, June.
    11. Progress Choongo & Elco Van Burg & Leo J. Paas & Enno Masurel, 2016. "Factors Influencing the Identification of Sustainable Opportunities by SMEs: Empirical Evidence from Zambia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-24, January.
    12. Matthew P. Johnson & Jacob Hörisch, 2022. "Reinforcing or counterproductive behaviors for sustainable entrepreneurship? The influence of causation and effectuation on sustainability orientation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 908-920, March.
    13. Engel, Yuval & Ramesh, Anusha & Steiner, Nick, 2020. "Powered by compassion: The effect of loving-kindness meditation on entrepreneurs' sustainable decision-making," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(6).
    14. Aikaterini Argyrou & Nicolas Chevrollier & Andre Nijhof, 2023. "The versatile role of sustainable market entrepreneurs in market transformation: An intervention framework for institutional change," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 259-273, January.
    15. Torbjörn Ljungkvist & Jim Andersén, 2021. "A taxonomy of ecopreneurship in small manufacturing firms: A multidimensional cluster analysis," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1374-1388, February.
    16. Sascha Kraus & Janina Burtscher & Christine Vallaster & Martin Angerer, 2018. "Sustainable Entrepreneurship Orientation: A Reflection on Status-Quo Research on Factors Facilitating Responsible Managerial Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-21, February.
    17. David Hirschfeld & Marcus Wagner, 2022. "The Interplay of Attitudes, Norms and Control in Sustainable Entrepreneurship: An Experimental Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-22, July.
    18. Lori DiVito & Zita Ingen-Housz, 2021. "From individual sustainability orientations to collective sustainability innovation and sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1057-1072, February.
    19. Hall, Jeremy K. & Daneke, Gregory A. & Lenox, Michael J., 2010. "Sustainable development and entrepreneurship: Past contributions and future directions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 439-448, September.
    20. DiVito, Lori & Bohnsack, René, 2017. "Entrepreneurial orientation and its effect on sustainability decision tradeoffs: The case of sustainable fashion firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 569-587.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:27:y:2018:i:3:p:300-322. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.