A fuzzy Set Approach to Empirical Typologies in Sustainability Entrepreneurship

Descriptions of sustainability entrepreneurs have involved various characteristics such as motivation, knowledge, orientation, cognition, and ways of organizing their ventures, yet none of these are by themselves distinguishing features of such entrepreneurs. A key research task in driving forward research in this area is the development of operational definition that reflects the complex constellation of characteristics that collectively distinguish them. Drawing upon a systematic qualitative comparative analysis of 44 sustainable ventures, this paper empirically identify sustainability entrepreneurs using criteria that go beyond an overall commitment to sustainability, involving a more complex set of conditions that allows for organizing the heterogeneity of sustainability entrepreneurship into coherent typology.