Definition #
Green entrepreneurship refers to a special subset of entrepreneurship that aims at creating and implementing solutions to environmental problems and to promote social change so that the environment is not harmed. It has also been suggested that green entrepreneurship could be a new business paradigm instead of a subset of entrepreneurship because green entrepreneurs have wider motivations than just launching eco-friendly products and services for a niche market (Kirkwood and Walton, 2010).
Environmental or green entrepreneurship can be explained on the basis of theories on entrepreneurship, and environmental and welfare economics as a subset of sustainable entrepreneurship (Dean and McMullen, 2007). The environmental economics literature states that environmental degradation is a result of market failures, while the entrepreneurship literature claims that there are business opportunities in market failure (Dean and McMullen, 2007). The target of green entrepreneurship is to improve the business ecosystems where businesses operate and at the same time promote changes in business practices that have an impact on the natural environment and society (Gast et al., 2017). This can be on the level of business and production processes and/or products themselves. Green entrepreneurship is responding to the growing demands for the termination of environmentally degrading business and consumers’ growing willingness to pay for the reduction of activities that have a negative impact on the environment. Green entrepreneurs are seizing business opportunities that can result in the improvement of ecological sustainability (Dean and McMullen, 2007).
Conventional Entrepreneurship vs. green entrepreneurship #
The main difference between conventional entrepreneurship and green entrepreneurship is the value creation logic. Conventional entrepreneurship contributes to economic growth and regional development (Suresh and Ramraj, 2012; Shane, S., and Venkataraman, S. 2000) and can develop local economies (Audretsch and Pena-Legazkue, 2012). Green entrepreneurship refers to businesses that have the target to minimize the business’ impact on the natural environment, i.e. take into account the ecological dimension of sustainability (Gast et al., 2017).
In conventional entrepreneurship the main and often sole driver is on the economic value creation, while in green entrepreneurship the economic aspect is considered as a means to achieving also other values on the environmental and social levels (Dean and McMullen, 2007; Vuorio et al., 2017). In addition to the economic perspectives, conventional entrepreneurs are also more and more answering to the sustainability requirements coming from environmental legislation as well as consumer demand for more green products. However, the factors that make an entrepreneur green, in addition to the financial performance, is the environmental dimension in the core business strategy and that business opportunities are seized in order to eliminate the harm done to the natural environment (Cohen and Winn, 2007).
There are various different terms used currently in the literature to refer to a similar field of study as ‘green entrepreneurship’, such as ‘ecopreneurship’, ‘eco-entrepreneurship’, ‘environmental entrepreneurship’, and the terms can even be used in the same contexts (Schaper, 2016). Green entrepreneurship is already a well-known concept even though it is a rather new field of academic research. In the academic literature several concepts and different terminology is used to describe entrepreneurship and innovations that aim at reducing negative influences on the environment. In the 1970’s there was already some initial studies, but in the late 80’s and 90’s this field has started to grow (Schaper, 2016). In the 1990’s Bennett (1991), Berle (1991) and Blue (1990) were the first to refer to the concepts of ‘environmental entrepreneur’, ‘green entrepreneur’, ‘eco-entrepreneur’ and ‘ecopreneur’. ‘Green’, ‘eco’, ‘environmental’ and ‘sustainable’ are all used in the same contexts and the definitions are very similar, the only difference being that the term ‘sustainable’ also strongly incorporates social aspects as well as economic and environmental ones (Zubeltzu‐Jaka et al., 2018). Sustainable entrepreneurship includes value creation on three different levels: the economic, social and environmental, but there may also be some cases where social entrepreneurs do not pursue economic gain (Dean and McMullen, 2007; Vuorio et al., 2017).
Characteristics of green entrepreneurs #
There are three factors that are distinctive for green entrepreneurs:
- First of all, they are entrepreneurs and thus run businesses that involve some risk, and they are looking for new business opportunities that can be developed and grown into viable businesses.
- Second, green entrepreneurs have business practices that have a positive impact on the environment and they operate with such principles that their operations do not harm or have a neutral impact on the environment.
- Third, green entrepreneurs operate in eco-friendly ways due to their personal intrinsic values and motivation, and are thus intentionally being environmentally conscious in their business. Thus green entrepreneurs can be considered as environmental problem solvers that are also acting as social change agents to change the practices and consumption habits in society (Schaper, 2016; Farinelli, 2011). The term green entrepreneur can be used to refer to individuals or groups who are acting as green entrepreneurs either in organizations or firms (de Bruin 2016).
Green entrepreneurs can be divided into two main different categories on the basis of the types of drivers they are acting upon. The definition of green entrepreneurs can be considered to be a wide one, including both individuals with strong green values and principles of sustainability in addition to opportunists who are taking advantage of a green niche market (Walley and Taylor, 2002). Some green entrepreneurs are impacted by the institutional context in society and the need for change, some by ideology, and other green entrepreneurs are targeting for strategic and competitive advantage through their sustainable innovations (Nikolaou et al., 2018). The motivation of green entrepreneurs to pursue sustainable ventures can thus be either opportunity-driven or sustainability-driven: opportunity-driven entrepreneurs aim at building a profitable business venture and use sustainability as a business opportunity for gaining profit; sustainability-driven entrepreneurs aim to contribute to sustainability and thus a profitable business is a means for achieving this (Parrish, 2010).
The basic assumption also with regard to green entrepreneurs is that they all have certain level of economic profit objectives if they are not working in the non-profit sector (e.g., voluntary or public-sector organizations). It has also been found that green entrepreneurs can have mixed set of motives consisting of green, ethical and social motives (Walley and Taylor, 2002). The typology for differentiating green entrepreneurs can be further presented with four main types: innovative opportunists, visionary champions, ethical mavericks and ad hoc enviropreneurs (Walley and Taylor, 2002). Green entrepreneurs have similar motives for becoming entrepreneurs as conventional entrepreneurs. Green entrepreneurs are motivated by: personal green values, making a living, their passion, being the boss, and seeing an opportunity in the markets, however, their financial motivations are often on a lower level than those of conventional entrepreneurs (Kirkwood and Walton, 2010). O’Neill and Gibbs (2016) found that green entrepreneurs saw themselves as different from the mainstream and their views had more in common with degrowth principles and the need to redefine prosperity.
Opportunity recognition #
Entrepreneurs can imagine new business opportunities and are willing to try out new things even when they are risky. However, they are able to recognize also unsolved problems and customer needs that are not yet satisfied, and thus they can be considered to be change agents on the markets (Schaper, 2016). When entrepreneurs recognize environmentally conscious business opportunities they can develop new products and services, improve existing products and create more sustainable business models. Green entrepreneurs, who have started their business based on their green values and the principle of sustainability sell green products or services that generate private profits in addition to creating large positive impact on the natural environment and society. Their businesses can also have potential for scaling up and thus aid in the sustainable transformation of the entire industry they are operating in (Silajdžić et al. 2015).
Green entrepreneurs are very important currently to the development of the economy because they help to create new jobs by introducing sustainable innovations on the markets and responding to the demands for change in society (Farinelli et al.;2011; Silajdžić et al. 2015). Green entrepreneurs can be considered to be change agents and drivers of sustainability and social change (de Bruin, 2016). They can also be considered to be very personally involved and connected to the development of their business, as they support environmental values and have social awareness even before considering the economic aspects of their business (Silajdžić et al. 2015).
Environmental changes increase the demand for green products & services #
The rapid economic growth and western consumption patterns have resulted in environmental deterioration. Global warming, increased environmental pollution, and decline in flora and fauna are results of the tremendous increase in the consumer consumption of goods and services in the world (Chen and Chai, 2010). These environmental changes in itself create demand for green products and services. During the last decade, there has been a rapid expansion of the consumer and capital markets for green products, services and firms (Delmas and Burbano, 2011). Green consumer behavior creates possibilities for companies for targeting the green segments of market (Delafrooz and Moghaddam, (2017). However, Joshi and Rahman (2015) argue that there is still little evidence to suggest that purchase of green products has increased even though there exists more environmentally green products and services, and more eco-sensitive consumers in the market.
Green growth on the markets can be supported by green entrepreneurs who launch green products and introduce green technologies into the marketplace. In the past, the majority of policies aimed at green growth and focused on the identification of technological innovations that reduce e.g. the human impact on the environment and climate change, and loss of biodiversity, however, green technology commercialization and green entrepreneurship has received less attention by policy makers (Farinelli et al., 2011).
Drivers for environmental change and green entrepreneurship can be divided into three aspects: compliance-based environmentalism, market-driven environmentalism and value-driven environmentalism (Post and Altman, 1994). Compliance-based environmentalism is enforced by governments with regulatory and legal systems. Market-driven environmentalism relates to incentives for companies to be environmentally conscious.
The third driver is the value-driven environmentalism, which refers to consumer demand for environmentally friendly products and services. Nikolaou et al. (2018) found that different incentives are behind of green entrepreneurship. Some types of green entrepreneurs are affected by institutional context, some are satisfying their idealistic expectations, and some are reaching individual strategic, innovation and competitive advantage goals. These different motives or incentives can be distinguished in four major categories as Gast et al. (2017) summarize: regulation, public concern, expected competitive advantage, and top management commitment. In addition, Kirkwood and Walton (2010) argue that pull factors are more important than push factors in the case of green entrepreneurship.
Transformational role of green entrepreneurship – building a green economy #
A green economy refers to a low carbon and resource-efficient economy where growth is driven by investments that aim at decreasing carbon emissions and pollution, improve energy and resource efficiency, and prevent the loss of biodiversity (UNEP, 2011). Green economy cannot be driven solely from top-down by the policy makers instead it needs to be implemented by green entrepreneurs that also benefit from policy incentives through green innovation and green technology (Farinelli et al., 2011). However, governments should enable better circumstances for green innovation that are large-scale and aid in the global transformation of business to become more eco-friendly and not just subsidize green niche markets (Farinelli et al., 2011).
One of the key actors in building a green economy are the green entrepreneurs (Schaper, 2010) who are disruptive innovators who are reinventing business models and identifying environmental market opportunities (Gibbs and O’Neill, 2014). Green entrepreneurs have been found to emphasize their green values and environmental concern on which they base their wider awareness-raising with their product which indicates an ongoing transformation in the business paradigm and the ways businesses operate (Kirkwood and Walton, 2010). O’Neill and Gibbs (2016) suggest that current discourses of the green economy are important in contextualising the ways that green entrepreneurs make sense of themselves and their businesses. Green entrepreneurs experience tensions between their own environmental philosophies and the governmental policies that promote business as usual. Thus, the mainstream economy is constantly challenging the narratives of green entrepreneurs.
When green entrepreneurs are able to prove that there are concrete gains from proactively developing greener products and services and operating in an eco-friendly manner, they can attract other businesses and entrepreneurs to becoming greener at a faster pace than the push policies set up by policies and legislation (Schaper, 2016). Green entrepreneurs are change agents who are disrupting the existing business ecosystem and markets with their business activities and by the lobbying they are conducting for wider system change and a greener society (Gibbs and O’Neill, 2014). Entrepreneurs can create and develop radical innovations in smaller market segments out of the scope of incumbent firms, and thus green entrepreneurs can be considered to be new system builders that can have an impact on the whole economic system (Geels, 2010). It has even been suggested in the literature that proactive green entrepreneurs can identify deficiencies in the existing markets and help to develop the institutions that support the allocation of environmental resources and practices (Pacheco et al., 2010).
As economic systems need to adapt to environmental challenges, green entrepreneurs have a critical role in developing the markets and preventing market failures that result in environmental degradation. What is required for this is far-sighted public policies that promote sustainable and green entrepreneurship so that the innovative power of entrepreneurship can help to build a more sustainable world (Dean and McMullen, 2007). Green entrepreneurship can help to find solutions to the global environmental problems of existing socio-economic systems (Dean and McMullen, 2007).
In addition, to green entrepreneurship being important for recognizing new eco-friendly business opportunities, it has a critical role in transforming the existing business paradigm into a more sustainable direction so that the environmental and social perspectives are taken into account in addition to the pure economic gains (Schaper, 2016; 2002). Green entrepreneurship is needed from a development perspective, as global inequality, increasing unemployment numbers, destruction of wildlife and impacts of climate change are threatening society and natural ecosystems. By supporting the development of green enterprises and thus improving the resilience of economies and natural ecosystems the promotion of green entrepreneurship is in line with the global environmental targets, e.g. Rio+20 Conference (Farinelli et al., 2011) as well as the UN sustainable development goals.
The transition in society towards a more sustainable system must be done in cooperation between actors in different fields of technology, policy, economic, business, as well as on the markets which requires a wider perspective than in conventional entrepreneurship (Geels, 2011). Green entrepreneurs are individuals who combine their environmental awareness with an entrepreneurial endeavor and thus are crucial actors in society’s and economy’s transformation into a ‘more sustainable business paradigm’ (Schaper, 2002; Gibbs and O’Neill, 2014).
When an industry is transforming to become more sustainable or green, the market incumbents (or firms who are dominating the markets) get feedback from their stakeholders that they should develop their processes and products to be more sustainable. As incumbents are tied to their existing resources and capabilities the transformation can be slow and only incremental (Hockerts and Wüstenhagen, 2010). This makes it hard for the incumbents to transform into green entrepreneurs in the case of existing products that they may already be producing, but in the case of new green product development, incumbents may be more successful in competing with green entrepreneurs who are newcomers on the markets as well (Hockerts and Wüstenhagen, 2010).
Green and sustainable business models #
Green and sustainable business models are crucial for creating eco-friendly sustainable businesses. As Teece (2010, p. 179) defines, “a business model describes the design or architecture of the value creation, delivery and capture mechanisms employed”. Green business models may include value destruction of existing business models as well as new ways to create and capture value (Roome and Louche, 2016).
With the sustainability requirements, businesses need to develop innovative ideas and business models and not just add superficial fixes to current non-sustainable solutions (Bocken et al. 2014). If companies improve their energy efficiency, but simultaneously their production and sales grow as a result of enhanced affordability, the companies are generating a rebound effect. This means that even though companies develop their eco-design and eco-efficiency, it is not necessarily decreasing their resource usage and there is a negative impact of the products on the environment due to the increasing sales and demand on the markets (Bocken et al. 2014). The focus in green companies should be on creating more durable and repairable products and thus the revenue would be collected from other sources than just sales of products.
Sustainable and green business model creation is multidisciplinary and different kinds of stakeholders need to be involved from the very early phases. A business model usually has three main components: the value proposition, the value creation and delivery, and the value capture (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010). In a green and sustainable business model, the economic, environmental and social levels of the business need to be included and different kinds of stakeholders need to be involved from the three levels of the business environment (Bocken et al. 2014).
Truly sustainable and green business models need to consider the full life-cycle of the products, including the end-of-life stage. When innovating a new sustainable and green business model, companies can focus, for example, on these specific aspects to creates value in new ways and possibly extend the product life and sustainability of the product (Bocken et al., 2014):
- Maximize material efficiency and energy efficiency;
- Use waste to create value;
- Substitute virgin materials with renewables and using natural processes;
- Create and offer functionality instead of ownership of products;
- Encourage the principle of sufficiency;
- Re-design the business for the benefit of society/environment.
Typically, green entrepreneurship is favored in such fields where the life styles, health and safety aspects of the customers are considered to be very important. Here a few examples from different industrial sectors:
Ecotourism: The way tourism impacts the lives of locals has led to the development ecotourism ventures where the target is that the local environment and communities benefit from the tourism business (Scheyvens, 1999). The target of some tourists is to see rare animal species which does not help to develop an appreciation for biodiversity. However, with ecotourism the target is the conservation of threatened natural habitats and species. The active participation of the local community is crucial for the success of ecotourism so that the numbers and distribution of tourists is controlled and managed effectively in the local environment and nature, otherwise the ecotourism initiatives may fail to be sustainable (Krüger, 2005).
Green construction: Green construction includes principles of environmental impact, resource management and recycling implementation (Ishak, Kamal and Yusof, 2017). The usage of green building materials in construction can help to minimize the production of waste and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. Lam et al. (2009) identified five factors of green construction: (1) green technology and techniques, (2) reliability and quality of specification, (3) leadership and responsibility, (4) stakeholder involvement, and (5) guide and benchmarking systems.
Eco-friendly fashion retailing: Green retailing refers to retailing products with environmental benefits. The global demand for green products has resulted in major global retailers creating labels that claim environmental benefits (green labels), and indexes to evaluate the ‘‘greenness’’ of suppliers and/or products for practicing sustainability (Lee et al. 2012). This phenomenon inspires also other, smaller retailers to apply the same policies. As Lee et al. (2012) found, retailers can change consumers’ consciousness and behavior by directly interacting with them.
Car industry: Battery electric vehicles (EVs) give the option of ultimately zero carbon and zero emissions transport. Electrification of the car means disruptive change to the existing automotive and energy business models in all sections of the value chain. Nieuwenhuis (2018) argues, that new electric vehicle (EV) business models need to extend beyond the boundaries of the business itself including both context and environment. EV business models are affected by regulatory based incentives and thus, operate in artificial market conditions. As Niewenhuis (2018) states, these business models are dynamic and different private and public sector players are still exploring what their respective roles should be in future EV business models.
Green food: The markets for green or sustainable food have grown globally since the 1990’s, and currently in many countries, supermarkets have a central role as resellers of sustainable green food products. They buy from global distributors as well as from farms and local producers. The alternative natural food and grocery stores and farmers’ markets have been partly required to take a smaller role, due to smaller capacity and the growing consumer demand for green food (Oosterveer, 2007).
Green entrepreneurship as a promoter of SDG 12: Sustainable consumption and production #
Green entrepreneurs will be key actors in the business ecosystem and aid in the implementation of more sustainable production processes that will in turn support the sustainable consumption behavior of greening consumers. When targeting sustainable consumption and production, especially the development of resource and energy efficiency and more sustainable infrastructures are critical. With green entrepreneurship, economic development will be implemented so that environmental and social costs are reduced and economic competitiveness is built more on the basis of sustainable criteria, including the environmental and social criteria in addition to the economic sustainability. The advancement of green entrepreneurship will thus also help to develop more green and sustainable workplaces and better work life environment for the workers.
When targeting sustainable consumption and production the idea is to do more with less and with a better outcome. This is done by minimizing the use of resources and thus reducing degradation and pollution of production and the end products for their whole life cycle. In addition, consumers need to be provided trustworthy information on the products and their production that helps them to make sustainable product choices and supports their sustainable consumption behavior and lifestyle. As the global population is growing and there will be an increasing demand for more products from constrained natural resources, entrepreneurs and the business environment need to adapt to the situation so that production and consumption is not resulting in permanent damage to our natural environment.
It will be in the best interest of future entrepreneurs to support more sustainable consumption behavior with more sustainable production processes and products. With a green entrepreneurship approach, firms can promote innovations and service/product design that inspires and supports individual consumers’ aspirations to lead a more sustainable life, and thus reduce the impact of their consumption on the natural environment. Green entrepreneurs have a better motivation to develop sustainable solutions than conventional entrepreneurs. This sustainable mindset of green entrepreneurs drives them to study the impact of their business and improve their solutions based on the environmental and social impacts of their products and services along the whole life cycle. They are willing to tackle the issues that have the most negative impact and where lies the most potential for improving the whole life cycle of their product and service offerings. Currently, green entrepreneurs have the most challenges with the sustainable management and use of natural resources, chemicals and wastes during the life cycle of the products and services. Green entrepreneurs need to share their sustainability information openly with their stakeholders, and they are willing to do it more openly than conventional entrepreneurs are. This requires that the firms develop tools for monitoring the impact of their production processes and products during their full life cycle. To promote more green entrepreneurs, consumers need to be willing to do some sacrifices to their current consumption habits and develop new ways to enjoy products and services that do not have such a negative impact on the natural environment.
Key issues #
One of the main issues confusing the discussion and development of green entrepreneurship is that there are several terms that have a similar meaning and are used interchangeably in the same context, such as ‘ecopreneurship’, ‘environmental entrepreneurship/enviropreneurship’, and in addition ‘sustainable entrepreneurship’ is used to refer to the same subcategory of entrepreneurship which signals the fragmentation existing in this field of study (Gast et al., 2017). In addition, Vallaster et. al (2018) suggest a term “responsible entrepreneur” to combine these different views.
Another challenge for promoting green entrepreneurship globally is the way green entrepreneurship is understood and practiced differently in developed countries and developing countries. Developed countries as well as international organizations emphasize the greenness aspect and business opportunities on the markets (Farinelli et al., 2011). Developing countries stress the entrepreneurship feature and needs on the markets, so that in China and India entrepreneurs are focusing on transforming the economy and offering affordable green products on the markets that meet the demands of even the poor consumers (Khanna 2011). The key issue in developed countries is that large investments are made to create green innovations, however, there are then often difficulties to create a viable product for the mass consumer markets (Farinelli et al., 2011). In addition, the measurement of the degree and level of green entrepreneurship can be difficult as there is no general agreement on the unit of measurement and level of analysis – there is no consensus on whether it should it be on the individual level or on the business level (Schaper, 2016).
In addition, green entrepreneurs may need to struggle more than conventional entrepreneurs to get investors to finance them in the early phases of their start-up business. As green entrepreneurs and start-ups are targeting a more sustainable economy by developing sustainable and eco-friendly innovation, their drivers and business strategies often differ from conventional start-ups (Bergset, 2015). Investors may not be able to verify and appreciate the relevance of green product elements or understand the existing consumer demand for eco-friendly products (Bergset, 2015). One way the green entrepreneurs can alleviate the situation among investors is to create trust among investors by certifying their product with an eco-label and/or by building a green brand. Green branding can help to build trust in the product (Ottman, 2011) as brands can be associated with the company’s environmental reputation. A brand can reflect how environmentally sustainable the company is and thus influence how consumers experience the brand’s eco-friendliness (Saari et al., 2017).
Greenwashing
One aspect of green entrepreneurship is the negative phenomena of greenwashing. As Dahl (2010) states, greenwashing has gained broad recognition as a term to describe the practice of making unwarranted or overblown claims of sustainability or eco-friendliness in an attempt to gain market share. Delmas and Burbano (2011) define greenwashing “as the intersection of two firm behaviors: poor environmental performance and positive communication about environmental performance”. The increasing consumer demand for green products and services has escalated green washing behavior. Ramus and Montiel (2005) argue, that in the absence of regulation, companies can easily make environmental policy statements without a serious intent to implement those policies and therefore use green washing. Their findings suggest, that consumers and other stakeholders should be skeptical if a company commits to a green policy if that company does not have an economic incentive to do so.
Delmas and Burbano (2011) organize the drivers of greenwashing into three levels: external, organizational and individual. External drivers include pressures from regulators, NGOs, consumers, investors and competitors. On the organizational level, the drivers include e.g. incentive structures and ethical climate, communication effectiveness and organizational inertia. Individual-level drivers of greenwashing include narrow decision framing, hyperbolic intertemporal discounting and optimistic bias. Ramus and Montiel (2005) summarize these as coercive, normative, and mimetic pressures.
From the customer’s perspective, the fear of green washing moderates green purchase behavior and poses a serious threat to favorable customer perceptions about green products (Rejikumar, 2016). Customers are willing to pay more for green products, if they truly believe that these products reduce the negative impact to the environment (Manaktola and Jauhari, 2007; Kotchen and Moore, 2008). A lack of information and disbelief of green claims are identified as barriers to green purchase behavior. As Rejikumar (2016) argues, customers have difficulties in understanding the scientific concepts behind the pro-environmental claims, which results in mistrust. Firms can easily use false and vague claims of environmentally friendly products.
Future directions #
In the green management literature, the focus has been lately shifting more to sustainability and innovation, the important role of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), and the increasing demands from the consumer markets for more green products (Schaper, 2016). The role of businesses in future sustainable development is crucial. Green economies and green entrepreneurs are considered to be change agents that can introduce the environmental, social and ethical transformation of society (Affolderbach and Krueger, 2017). However, the focus in contemporary research is largely still on current business models with technocratic approaches. New discussions are starting to emerge on green entrepreneurship and environmental justice as drivers for broader system changes and further needs for green development are coming up (Affolderbach and Krueger, 2017). Vallaster et. al (2018) suggest five streams of further research: walking the line between profit creation and value creation for society; business models of responsible entrepreneurs; their role in transforming society; getting ready to innovate responsibly; and the role of market incentives to foster sustainable business practices. In future research, higher degree of convergence with respect to the different terms applied in describing green entrepreneurship would be required. As Gast et al. (2017) suggest, research should identify the potential similarities and differences between the different streams of thought and furthermore, develop these concepts. In addition, interrelationship between the drivers and outcomes of green entrepreneurship and the differing values driving ecological sustainable entrepreneurs in different contexts should be examined.
Cross references #
Business environment; Circular economy; Lean manufacturing; Sustainable production; Sustainable supply chain management; Sustainability information required by consumers.
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Source #
Dr. Ulla A. Saari, Dr. Sanna Joensuu-Salo: Green Entrepreneurship
Related links #
Measuring green entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship at a Glance 2011