Young adults and sustainable entrepreneurship: the role of culture and demographic factors

Abstract

Entrepreneurial activity has been proposed to play a significant role in societies, although recently its role has been extended to include societal and environmental issues. As a response, new forms of entrepreneurship, such as social, environmental and sustainable entrepreneurship, have emerged. Simultaneously, young adults are said to be more prone towards entrepreneurship than previous generations and that they also possess more environmentally and socially conscious values. Analysing data from 29 countries, the results show that young adults are more likely to have a sustainable entrepreneurial goal than older adults, although this differs depending on the type of value emphasised. Moreover, education has an important role in enhancing the likelihood of an individual having a sustainable entrepreneurial goal rather than commercial one. These results imply that the generation subculture theory provides an explanation for sustainable entrepreneurship.