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.

Despite the significant attention devoted to the impact of corporate greening strategies on firm performance, research has so far focused on established firms, leaving the situation in new firms unclear. In this study, it is hypothesised that the impact of greening strategies on the performance of new firms depends on the type of strategy, and that the firm s age positively moderates this impact. Using a cross-sectoral dataset of 11,039 new firms from 36 countries, binary and ordinal logistic regressions were estimated for different start-up phases. The results indicate that new firms benefit from substantive greening strategies but, contrary to expectations, not from symbolic greening strategies. The performance of new firms in their later start-up phases was even found to be harmed if they adopt symbolic strategies but do not reinforce them with substantive actions (green-washing). No impact, or only a weakly positive impact was found for firms adopting both substantive and symbolic greening strategies (green-highlighting) or only substantive ones (brown-washing). Furthermore, the interaction analyses did not reveal any moderating effects of firm age, but additional investigation shows that the impacts of greening strategies do differ between age groups. Finally, robustness tests reveal that the relationship between substantive greening strategies and the performance of new firms is not linear but decreases with increasing environmental efforts.

This volume addresses the current challenges for and future prospects of women’s entrepreneurship research, bringing together a wealth of diverse insights with implications for research, education and practice alike. Presenting theoretical and empirical research papers and case studies, the book not only offers a topical reference guide for entrepreneurship researchers and educators, but also provides essential reading material for students interested in questions addressing diverse aspects of the challenges to and future academic and practical prospects of women’s entrepreneurship Part 1: Research Studies — 1. Women’s Entrepreneurship in Europe - Research Facets and Educational Foci — 2. Female Migrant Entrepreneurship in Germany - Determinants and Recent Developments — 3. Business Transferability Chances: Does the Gender of the Owner-Manager Matter? — 4. Does gender make a difference? Gender differences in the motivations and strategies of female and male academic entrepreneurs — 5. Towards Emancipatory Aspects of Women’s Entrepreneurship: An Alternative Model of Women’s Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy in Patriarchal Societies — 6. Women entrepreneurship in Estonia: Formal and informal institutional context — 7. Entrepreneurship Education and Gender in Europe: A Systematic Literature Review of Studies in Higher Education — Part 2: Case Studies — 8. Coming to Entrepreneurial Berlin and Making their Way in Silicon Allee: The Ups and Downs of Two Women Entrepreneurs — 9. Allure and Reality in FemTec Entrepreneurship: A Case Study of a Female Entrepreneur who Struggled in the Mechanical Engineering Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Germany — 10. The Female Hunting Instinct: Entrepreneurial Life in Germany