Exploring environmental entrepreneurship: identity coupling, venture goals, and stakeholder incentives

York, Jeffrey G.; O'Neil, Isobel; Sarasvathy, Saras D.

Abstract

On the basis of a qualitative study of 25 renewable energy firms, we theorize why and how individuals engage in environmental entrepreneurship, inductively defined as: the use of both commercial and ecological logics to address environmental degradation through the creation of financially profitable organizations, products, services, and markets. Our findings suggest that environmental entrepreneurs: (1) are motivated by identities based in both commercial and ecological logics,(2) prioritize commercial and/or ecological venture goals dependent on the strength and priority of coupling between these two identity types, and (3) approach stakeholders in a broadly inclusive, exclusive, or co-created manner based on identity coupling and goals. These findings contribute to literature streams on hybrid organizing, entrepreneurial identity, and entrepreneurship’s potential for resolving environmental degradation.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 16, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Mar 17, 2016
• Deposit Date: May 4, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: May 4, 2016
• Journal: Journal of Management Studies
• Print ISSN: 0022-2380
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-6486
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 53
• Issue: 5
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12198
• Keywords: effectuation, entrepreneurial identity, environmental entrepreneurship, hybrid; organizations, institutional logics, social enterprise, sustainability
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/780085
• Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joms.12198/abstract
• Additional Information: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: York, J. G., O'Neil, I. and Sarasvathy, S. D. (2016), Exploring Environmental Entrepreneurship: Identity Coupling, Venture Goals, and Stakeholder Incentives. Journal of Management Studies, 53: 695–737, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joms.12198/abstract. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.