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Green start-ups and the role of founder personality

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  • Chapman, Gary
  • Hottenrott, Hanna

Abstract

Green start-ups play a vital role in the needed transition towards more environmentally sustainable economies. Yet our understanding of why some founders start green ventures and others do not remains incomplete. We build on the cognitive and decision-making perspectives on start-ups pro-environmental engagement to shed light on the role of founders' personality traits - focusing on the ‘Big 5’ and risk tolerance - in explaining whether founders' start new ventures with environmentally friendly products. Our analysis of a large, representative, manufacturing and service sector sample of German start-ups illustrates the important role of founder personality traits. Specifically, openness and extraversion promote environmentally friendly products while neuroticism inhibits them. We discuss the implications of these insights.

Suggested Citation

  • Chapman, Gary & Hottenrott, Hanna, 2022. "Green start-ups and the role of founder personality," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobuve:v:17:y:2022:i:c:s2352673422000142
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbvi.2022.e00316
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    Cited by:

    1. Chapman, Gary & Hottenrott, Hanna, 2023. "Founder personality and start-up subsidies," ZEW Discussion Papers 23-008, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    2. Pandey, Dharen Kumar & Hunjra, Ahmed Imran & Hassan, M. Kabir & Rai, Varun Kumar, 2023. "Venture capital financing during crises: A bibliometric review," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Binbin Cai & Yin Chen & Arslan Ayub, 2023. "“Quiet the Mind, and the Soul Will Speak”! Exploring the Boundary Effects of Green Mindfulness and Spiritual Intelligence on University Students’ Green Entrepreneurial Intention–Behavior Link," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-21, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Emission reduction; Environmentally friendly products; Green innovation; Big five personality traits; Sustainability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • O25 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Industrial Policy
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

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