Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Development: A Review and Multilevel Causal Mechanism Framework

Abstract

Entrepreneurship for sustainable development is a multilevel phenomenon connecting social, environmental and economic dimensions between entrepreneurial processes, market transformations, as well as large-scale societal developments. While previous articles on social, environmental, and sustainable entrepreneurship have advanced our understanding on processes of discovery, creation, and exploitation of sustainability-oriented opportunities, the links between contextual influences on venture development and transformational outcomes at multiple levels are only partially captured in extant frameworks. Drawing out causal mechanisms with a systematic review, this article proposes a multilevel framework for linking mechanisms in existing literature and proposing future research on entrepreneurship for sustainable development.

Bioeconomy Transformation Strategies Worldwide Require Stronger Focus on Entrepreneurship

“…Given the great importance attached to the bioeconomy transformation by policymakers and researchers, the question arises of how the transformation envisioned could actually materialize and be actioned. Innovation will be part of the solution [14] and the entrepreneurship literature suggests that entrepreneurs can contribute to the transformation by commercializing innovative technologies through startups and new business models [11,15,16]. In particular, entrepreneurs that manage the triple bottom line and aim to achieve social and ecological goals extending beyond pure monetary ones can contribute: a phenomenon termed sustainable entrepreneurship [11,17].…”

Promoting Future Sustainable Transition by Overcoming the Openness Paradox in KIE Firms

“…Firms create and diffuse innovations in the form of new technologies, products, services and business models and contribute to the creation of new markets and industries, all of which is necessary for sustainable transitions to take place [1]. Smaller innovative entrepreneurial firms-not least knowledge-intensive innovative entrepreneurial firms [2][3][4]-are especially important for sustainable transitions; this type of firm often pursues radically novel solutions and attempts to drastically change markets and industries [5,6], thereby making important contributions to technological development [7]. Entrepreneurs are also often driven by larger goals than just profits, including sustainable value creation [8].…”

“…We investigate how KIE firms can overcome the openness paradox [17,24] by choosing a combination of collaborative partners and appropriability strategies that supports their ability to create more radical innovations, an approach for which there is currently little evidence in the literature [17,20]. Supporting the creation of radical innovations is fundamental for achieving sustainable transitions through entrepreneurship [1,5,13]; the openness paradox is therefore an important barrier to sustainable transitions [1]. Our study thus provides important policy implications for how to promote future sustainable transition, as well as a foundation for future lines of research regarding entrepreneurship and sustainable transition [5].…”

“…Supporting the creation of radical innovations is fundamental for achieving sustainable transitions through entrepreneurship [1,5,13]; the openness paradox is therefore an important barrier to sustainable transitions [1]. Our study thus provides important policy implications for how to promote future sustainable transition, as well as a foundation for future lines of research regarding entrepreneurship and sustainable transition [5]. By focusing upon knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship, collaboration and appropriability, this paper also contributes to the interesting, but broader, question of the role of market forces in terms of appropriability in public policy in relation to transition [13].…”

Corporate and entrepreneurial contributions to sustainability transitions

“…Frequently, large corporations are highlighted to be the levers for sustainability transitions due to their substantial direct impacts on environmental and social developments and their broad outreach along supply chains (Brown, Vetterlein, & Roemer‐Mahler, ; Christ & Burritt, ; New, ). The second strand of research emphasizes entrepreneurial potentials of radical, disruptive sustainability‐oriented innovations and proposes that start‐ups, pioneers, spin‐offs, and other entrepreneurial ventures are key for driving sustainable development at the large scale (Hockerts & Wüstenhagen, ; Johnson & Schaltegger, ; Schaltegger, Lüdeke‐Freund, & Hansen, ). For small and medium‐sized enterprises, frequently, their collective impact on sustainability transitions is emphasized, as about 70% of all global environmental damage is created by small and medium‐sized enterprises (Hillary, ; Revell, Stokes, & Chen, ).…”