Publikationen

This paper contributes to the recent stream of econometric entrepreneurship research by introducing the environmental orientation of new ventures as a key factor for sustainable development. It empirically assesses whether relationships exist between national shares of green entrepreneurial activity (GEA) and economic, social, and environmental development. Theory and first empirical evidence suggest that – compared to conventional new ventures – new green ventures have a more positive economic and social impact and are less harmful or even beneficial to environmental quality. OLS regressions were estimated to empirically test the impact of GEA rates (share of total entrepreneurial activity) on GDP, the modified HDI, and CO₂ emissions. For this purpose, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data for 11,909 early-stage entrepreneurs was aggregated to the macro-level of 53 countries and merged with further international datasets. The results confirmed that higher shares of GEA are positively related to economic and social development but not to environmental development. Additional tests proved the robustness of the results for different economic development levels, time-lag variations, and different measurements of dependent and independent variables. The identified economic and social importance of GEA warrants intensified policy efforts to support the discovery, creation, and exploitation of green business opportunities. Potential explanations for the counterintuitive non-significant environmental impact are discussed, leading to new research avenues.

This paper contributes to the recent stream of econometric entrepreneurship research by introducing the environmental orientation of new ventures as a key factor for sustainable development. It empirically assesses whether relationships exist between national shares of green entrepreneurial activity (GEA) and economic, social, and environmental development. Theory and first empirical evidence suggest that – compared to conventional new ventures – new green ventures have a more positive economic and social impact and are less harmful or even beneficial to environmental quality. OLS regressions were estimated to empirically test the impact of GEA rates (share of total entrepreneurial activity) on GDP, the modified HDI, and CO₂ emissions. For this purpose, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data for 11,909 early-stage entrepreneurs was aggregated to the macro-level of 53 countries and merged with further international datasets. The results confirmed that higher shares of GEA are positively related to economic and social development but not to environmental development. Additional tests proved the robustness of the results for different economic development levels, time-lag variations, and different measurements of dependent and independent variables. The identified economic and social importance of GEA warrants intensified policy efforts to support the discovery, creation, and exploitation of green business opportunities. Potential explanations for the counterintuitive non-significant environmental impact are discussed, leading to new research avenues.

Through an exploration of Korean high-tech social enterprises, we aim to identify and explore critically (a) how socially engaged, early stage, high technology firms combine social and economic objectives with which to scale up their ventures; and (b) how socially engaged firms seek entrepreneurial opportunity development, including the internationalisation process and the support of stake holding institutions to help scale up the value creation process. We highlight ‘people’, ‘organisations’ and the ‘environment’ dimensions, enabling an understanding of the drivers of socially entrepreneurial activity both from individual and societal perspectives. The analytical framework of our study is based on empirical data acquired from individual in-depth interviews, group interviews, active participatory observations and survey data from 2018 to 2021. We found that social motivation and objectives of the entrepreneurs are equally strong drivers and that they are the principal factors for the scaling up process. The motivation is strengthened by the proactive role of government initiatives which also attract other key stakeholders in the growth process. A combination of digital technology with a high degree of social motivation of the entrepreneurs tends to lead to the development of international market opportunities and attract the interests of international foundations.

Im Rahmen der Studie werden wirtschaftliche St arken und Schw achen beidseits der deutsch-d anischen Grenze sowie Handlungsfelder f ur eine vertiefte Kooperation in der Grenzregion identifiziert. Es wird analysiert, welche "kritischen Massen" in der Grenzregion mobilisiert werden k onnten, um auf beiden Seiten der Grenze Schw achen zu uberwinden und die Gesamtregion im Wettbewerb um Investoren und knappe Arbeitskr afte zu st arken. Auf Grundlage einer Expertenbefragung werden Schl usselfaktoren f ur die Entwicklung der Grenzregion abgeleitet und m ogliche Entwicklungsszenarien f ur die deutsch-d anische Grenzregion modelliert. Das Autorenteam zeigt dar uber hinaus, dass die Erfahrungen und Kooperationsmodelle bereits st arker integrierten Grenzregionen Lerneffekte f ur die Institutionalisierung der Zusammenarbeit und insbesondere f ur die Ausgestaltung von Arbeitsmarktkooperationen bieten. — — The study identifies economic strengths and weaknesses on both sides of the German-Danish border as well as fields of action for deeper cooperation in the border region. It analyzes which "critical masses" could be mobilized in the border region to overcome weaknesses on both sides of the border and to strengthen the overall region in the competition for investors and scarce labor. Based on an expert survey, key factors for the development of the border region are derived and possible development scenarios for the German-Danish border region are modeled. The team of authors also shows that the experiences and cooperation models of already more integrated border regions offer learning effects for the institutionalization of cooperation and especially for the design of labor market cooperation.

This paper merges the literature on green and high-quality entrepreneurship by introducing environmental orientation as an unrecognised characteristic of start-up quality and the three quality dimensions innovativeness, high-growth, and internationalisation. Entrepreneurship literature argues that only highquality start-ups contribute to sustainable development and that a better understanding of what determines the quality of start-ups is required. Empirical research has recently shown that the environmental orientation of start-ups is one such determinant, as it significantly predicts their innovativeness. This paper pursues this novel research avenue on the importance of environmental orientation for start-up quality in two ways. First, this paper evaluates and extends this initial evidence on environmental orientation and innovativeness by examining a three times larger sample, covering additional countries and entrepreneurial stages. Second, this paper also analyses the impact of environmental orientation on the quality dimensions of high-growth and internationalisation. Investigation using Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data on 9,650 entrepreneurs from 51 countries revealed that start-ups with a higher environmental orientation are of superior quality regarding their innovativeness, growth expectations, and exports. These results remain robust for start-ups at different entrepreneurial stages, and tests employing different methodological approaches and variable definitions. However, the categorisation into factordriven, efficiency-driven, and innovation-driven countries showed that greener start-ups are more innovative in countries at all three levels of development, while the relationships with high-growth and internationalisation remained significant for only two of the three categories. The findings of this paper provide a new approach for practitioners to identify the small number of high-quality start-ups and an economic reason warranting intensified efforts to support green start-ups.