Exploring the Link Between Product Innovation Capacities and Social Entrepreneurial Venture Emergence

Abstract

This paper explores the link between product innovation and the emergence of social entrepreneurial (SE) ventures. Emerging discussions have noted the paradoxical nature of social entrepreneurial activities to traditional resource and environmental navigation concepts within profit-seeking organizations. Yet, questions remain about the various antecedents to economic and socially viable ventures in diverse institutional environments. The literature between product innovation theory and social entrepreneurial ventures remains under-explored s well. This study addresses this gap using a comparative multilevel model to explore the links between product innovation and social venture emergence across 59 countries. The results suggest that product innovation capacities may be an antecedent to social entrepreneurial ventures by using the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, World Governance Indicators, Index of Economic Freedom, and World Development Indicators. The results indicate a positive association between product innovation capacities and social venture engagement regardless of the directly (and moderating) observable variation in the studied regulatory systems, raising important questions about formal institutional support mechanisms' efficacy. Hence, the study proposes that product innovation capacities on the individual level have an influencing role in forming social entrepreneurial outcomes.