Pub Date : 2026-01-22DOI: 10.1007/s11187-025-01162-8
Annu Kotiranta, Kaisu Puumalainen, Helena Sjögren
Hybrid enterprises combine the pursuit of financial performance with social impact and have played a notable role in mitigating the adverse effects of recent economic crises. While public innovation funding is recognized for alleviating economic distress among firms, its influence on the growth of different hybrid enterprise types during crises remains underexplored. This study examines the impact of public innovation funding on the growth of Finnish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the COVID-19 crisis (2018–2022), focusing on different hybrid structures. The findings reveal that hybridity significantly moderates the relationship between innovation funding and SME growth, with contrasting outcomes for hybrids emphasizing economic objectives versus those driven by social missions. These results underscore the need for more nuanced consideration of hybridity in public funding decisions and question the effectiveness of current support measures for enterprises with mainly social motives. The study contributes to theory by linking hybrid organizing literature to firm growth, identifying boundary conditions for R&D support when profit maximization is not the sole goal, and by providing empirical evidence on the innovativeness and growth dynamics of hybrid enterprises during crises.
{"title":"SME growth in crisis: how different hybrid structures respond to innovation funding","authors":"Annu Kotiranta, Kaisu Puumalainen, Helena Sjögren","doi":"10.1007/s11187-025-01162-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-025-01162-8","url":null,"abstract":"Hybrid enterprises combine the pursuit of financial performance with social impact and have played a notable role in mitigating the adverse effects of recent economic crises. While public innovation funding is recognized for alleviating economic distress among firms, its influence on the growth of different hybrid enterprise types during crises remains underexplored. This study examines the impact of public innovation funding on the growth of Finnish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the COVID-19 crisis (2018–2022), focusing on different hybrid structures. The findings reveal that hybridity significantly moderates the relationship between innovation funding and SME growth, with contrasting outcomes for hybrids emphasizing economic objectives versus those driven by social missions. These results underscore the need for more nuanced consideration of hybridity in public funding decisions and question the effectiveness of current support measures for enterprises with mainly social motives. The study contributes to theory by linking hybrid organizing literature to firm growth, identifying boundary conditions for R&D support when profit maximization is not the sole goal, and by providing empirical evidence on the innovativeness and growth dynamics of hybrid enterprises during crises.","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146048435","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-22DOI: 10.1007/s11187-025-01172-6
Christopher J. Boudreaux, Joao Fernando Rossi Mazzoni
{"title":"Mise en place: rural entrepreneurship and the role of the community","authors":"Christopher J. Boudreaux, Joao Fernando Rossi Mazzoni","doi":"10.1007/s11187-025-01172-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-025-01172-6","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146048434","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-20DOI: 10.1007/s11187-025-01151-x
Joshua V. White, Yulia Aray, Karina A. Bogatyreva
{"title":"External pressures, internal priorities: how socially oriented NGOs condition the performance effects of SMEs’ sustainability orientation","authors":"Joshua V. White, Yulia Aray, Karina A. Bogatyreva","doi":"10.1007/s11187-025-01151-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-025-01151-x","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"64 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146006075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-20DOI: 10.1007/s11187-025-01160-w
Shihao Wei, Christopher Boudreaux, Zhongfeng Su, Zhan Wu, Pekka Stenholm
{"title":"Deviant response: The effect of income inequality on informal entrepreneurship in emerging economies","authors":"Shihao Wei, Christopher Boudreaux, Zhongfeng Su, Zhan Wu, Pekka Stenholm","doi":"10.1007/s11187-025-01160-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-025-01160-w","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"39 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146006074","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-17DOI: 10.1007/s11187-025-01155-7
Kate Yi-En Zeng, Shova Thapa Karki, Steven A. Brieger, Lutz Preuss
In the pursuit of impact, entrepreneurs encounter various sustainability tensions throughout the development stages of their venture. Recognizing these tensions is critical for navigating and negotiating competing priorities in societal value creation. However, existing studies on sustainability tensions have mainly focused on large and incumbent firms. While studies exploring tensions in small enterprises have started to emerge, limited attention has been given to sustainability-driven enterprises and the types of tensions they encounter as they move through different venture stages in the pursuit of and scaling for impact. In this paper, we aim to fill this research gap by examining the tensions that sustainability-driven enterprises experience at different venture stages. We employ a multiple case study approach to identify tensions that entrepreneurs encounter in pursuing social and environmental impacts. Our findings identify tensions at three levels—individual, organizational, and macro-level context—and highlight how different tensions dominate at different stages, each carrying distinct implications for impact creation and scaling.
{"title":"Navigating competing priorities for societal value creation: tensions in sustainability-driven enterprises across venture stages","authors":"Kate Yi-En Zeng, Shova Thapa Karki, Steven A. Brieger, Lutz Preuss","doi":"10.1007/s11187-025-01155-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-025-01155-7","url":null,"abstract":"In the pursuit of impact, entrepreneurs encounter various sustainability tensions throughout the development stages of their venture. Recognizing these tensions is critical for navigating and negotiating competing priorities in societal value creation. However, existing studies on sustainability tensions have mainly focused on large and incumbent firms. While studies exploring tensions in small enterprises have started to emerge, limited attention has been given to sustainability-driven enterprises and the types of tensions they encounter as they move through different venture stages in the pursuit of and scaling for impact. In this paper, we aim to fill this research gap by examining the tensions that sustainability-driven enterprises experience at different venture stages. We employ a multiple case study approach to identify tensions that entrepreneurs encounter in pursuing social and environmental impacts. Our findings identify tensions at three levels—individual, organizational, and macro-level context—and highlight how different tensions dominate at different stages, each carrying distinct implications for impact creation and scaling.","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"96 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146005927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-17DOI: 10.1007/s11187-025-01152-w
Azizjon Alimov
{"title":"Regulatory thresholds and post-IPO acquisitions: evidence from the JOBS Act","authors":"Azizjon Alimov","doi":"10.1007/s11187-025-01152-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-025-01152-w","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"64 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146006077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-16DOI: 10.1007/s11187-025-01171-7
Robert Fairlie, Frank M. Fossen, Ke Lyu
The COVID-19 pandemic delivered an unprecedented shock to business entry, with sharply contrasting effects on different types of startups. Using newly constructed administrative data from the Comprehensive Startup Panel covering the universe of U.S. startups, we provide the first official numbers of the pandemic’s impact on employer and nonemployer startup dynamics. Nonemployer startup formation declined substantially in 2020, while the number of employer startups unexpectedly increased. In 2021, nonemployer formation rebounded, almost offsetting the 2020 decline. Survival outcomes also diverged: nonemployer startup survival dropped markedly during the pandemic, whereas employer startup survival remained largely stable. Within nonemployer startups, the contraction was broad-based, affecting nonemployers with and without an Employer Identification Number, an indicator of growth orientation. These findings reveal a pronounced compositional shift between employer and nonemployer startups and underscore the importance of designing policies tailored to nonemployer startups in economic crises.
{"title":"A tale of two startups: the loss and gain of startups in the U.S. economy in the pandemic","authors":"Robert Fairlie, Frank M. Fossen, Ke Lyu","doi":"10.1007/s11187-025-01171-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-025-01171-7","url":null,"abstract":"The COVID-19 pandemic delivered an unprecedented shock to business entry, with sharply contrasting effects on different types of startups. Using newly constructed administrative data from the Comprehensive Startup Panel covering the universe of U.S. startups, we provide the first official numbers of the pandemic’s impact on employer and nonemployer startup dynamics. Nonemployer startup formation declined substantially in 2020, while the number of employer startups unexpectedly increased. In 2021, nonemployer formation rebounded, almost offsetting the 2020 decline. Survival outcomes also diverged: nonemployer startup survival dropped markedly during the pandemic, whereas employer startup survival remained largely stable. Within nonemployer startups, the contraction was broad-based, affecting nonemployers with and without an Employer Identification Number, an indicator of growth orientation. These findings reveal a pronounced compositional shift between employer and nonemployer startups and underscore the importance of designing policies tailored to nonemployer startups in economic crises.","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"276 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146006078","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-12DOI: 10.1007/s11187-025-01159-3
Joan-Lluís Capelleras, Ignacio Contín-Pilart, Martin Larraza-Kintana, Victor Martin-Sanchez
This study investigates how entrepreneurs’ growth aspirations relate to the adoption of environmental actions and how national environmental regulations moderate this relationship. We argue that growth-oriented entrepreneurs are more likely to adopt environmentally oriented behaviors due to long-term investment logic and legitimacy-seeking considerations. Moreover, we propose that stringent environmental regulations strengthen this relationship by reinforcing both mechanisms. Using a multisource dataset and applying a multilevel analysis, we find support for our hypotheses. The findings highlight the importance of both entrepreneurial growth aspirations and regulatory environments in shaping entrepreneurs’ engagement in environmental actions.
{"title":"Entrepreneurial growth aspirations and the adoption of environmental actions: the role of regulatory stringency","authors":"Joan-Lluís Capelleras, Ignacio Contín-Pilart, Martin Larraza-Kintana, Victor Martin-Sanchez","doi":"10.1007/s11187-025-01159-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-025-01159-3","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigates how entrepreneurs’ growth aspirations relate to the adoption of environmental actions and how national environmental regulations moderate this relationship. We argue that growth-oriented entrepreneurs are more likely to adopt environmentally oriented behaviors due to long-term investment logic and legitimacy-seeking considerations. Moreover, we propose that stringent environmental regulations strengthen this relationship by reinforcing both mechanisms. Using a multisource dataset and applying a multilevel analysis, we find support for our hypotheses. The findings highlight the importance of both entrepreneurial growth aspirations and regulatory environments in shaping entrepreneurs’ engagement in environmental actions.","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"243 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145955080","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-10DOI: 10.1007/s11187-025-01156-6
Antonios D. Livieratos, George Tsekouras, Wim Vanhaverbeke, Georgia Tsiliki
This study examines how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) sequence their open innovation (OI) activities over the course of individual innovation projects. Moving beyond static firm-level analyses, we explore the dynamics of partner engagement and value capture in 106 European SMEs. Using a dataset of 500 OI activities—termed “OI moves”—we identify patterns that combine partner type and exploitation mode. By comparing more and less successful SMEs, we reveal that sequencing plays a critical role in innovation outcomes. Successful SMEs tend to engage R&D service providers early, prioritize internal exploitation initially, and later transition to co- and external exploitation. In contrast, less successful SMEs rely prematurely on external exploitation and fail to retain value from their innovation efforts. Our dynamic, journey-based approach advances the predominantly static treatment of OI in prior research by operationalizing OI as sequences of linked activities rather than isolated collaboration choices. This enables us to identify a limited set of recurrent pathways associated with successful outcomes, as well as distinct pathways that consistently lead to unsuccessful outcomes. We also highlight the underexplored role of exploitation modes in OI: not just which partners SMEs engage, but when and under which value-capture logic . The sequencing of internal, joint, and external exploitation emerges as a key differentiator between successful and less successful SME innovation strategies. For theory, the study contributes a dynamic process perspective to OI research, demonstrating that value capture is path-dependent and shaped by the temporal ordering of OI moves. For practice, the findings provide actionable guidance of steps for SMEs to follow in order to be successful with OI.
{"title":"Unlocking SME innovation success through sequenced collaboration","authors":"Antonios D. Livieratos, George Tsekouras, Wim Vanhaverbeke, Georgia Tsiliki","doi":"10.1007/s11187-025-01156-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-025-01156-6","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) sequence their open innovation (OI) activities over the course of individual innovation projects. Moving beyond static firm-level analyses, we explore the dynamics of partner engagement and value capture in 106 European SMEs. Using a dataset of 500 OI activities—termed “OI moves”—we identify patterns that combine partner type and exploitation mode. By comparing more and less successful SMEs, we reveal that sequencing plays a critical role in innovation outcomes. Successful SMEs tend to engage R&D service providers early, prioritize internal exploitation initially, and later transition to co- and external exploitation. In contrast, less successful SMEs rely prematurely on external exploitation and fail to retain value from their innovation efforts. Our dynamic, journey-based approach advances the predominantly static treatment of OI in prior research by operationalizing OI as sequences of linked activities rather than isolated collaboration choices. This enables us to identify a limited set of recurrent pathways associated with successful outcomes, as well as distinct pathways that consistently lead to unsuccessful outcomes. We also highlight the underexplored role of exploitation modes in OI: not just <jats:italic>which</jats:italic> partners SMEs engage, but <jats:italic>when</jats:italic> and under <jats:italic>which value-capture logic</jats:italic> . The sequencing of internal, joint, and external exploitation emerges as a key differentiator between successful and less successful SME innovation strategies. For theory, the study contributes a dynamic process perspective to OI research, demonstrating that value capture is path-dependent and shaped by the temporal ordering of OI moves. For practice, the findings provide actionable guidance of steps for SMEs to follow in order to be successful with OI.","PeriodicalId":21803,"journal":{"name":"Small Business Economics","volume":"82 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.4,"publicationDate":"2026-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145947280","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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