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The academic literature holds high expectations of crowdfunding to foster sustainable development by closing the funding gap for sustainable entrepreneurs. In particular, crowdfunding is considered a promising instrument for transforming existing socio-technical regimes by financing radical innovations of such entrepreneurs. However, this potential has not yet been fully explored. Large knowledge gaps exist especially in the area of investment-based crowdfunding. Therefore, this dissertation addresses the overarching research question of how sustainable entrepreneurs can exploit the full potential of investment-based crowdfunding to develop from niche operators to actors in the socio-technical regime. Five journal articles and one book chapter are included in this PhD project, which use a wide range of quantitative methodologies. In the framework paper, the findings are conceptually evaluated on a meta-level by applying the multi-level perspective. The key insights can be assigned to four categories, including the financing and marketing function, the target group, and the project presentation. The analysis shows that investment-based crowdfunding is suitable to equally fund and market the business ideas of environmental entrepreneurs, since the quest for entering the mass market is highest for such ventures. In contrast, purely social entrepreneurs tend to conduct crowdfunding projects on a smaller scale and probably aim to stay in the niche. Nevertheless, profit-oriented social entrepreneurs are still encouraged to use investment-based crowdfunding for funding and marketing purposes. The prominent display of environmental effects (e.g. the amount of compensated greenhouse gases) and financial incentives (e.g. high interest rates) has a high impact on the investment decision of individuals on investment-based crowdfunding platforms. The findings also suggest that the typical supporter of sustainability-oriented crowdfunding projects is younger than 50 years, has achieved at least a university degree and holds low levels of self-enhancement and conservative values. The case of fairafric is used as a best practice example to demonstrate how crowdfunding can be a stepping stone for sustainability-oriented niche actors to enter the mass market. The fair-trade and organic chocolate manufacturer has undergone six crowdfunding campaigns which enabled it to grow and build a strong community of supporters. The outcomes of this dissertation clarify how sustainable entrepreneurs can unleash the potential of investment-based crowdfunding for financing and marketing purposes.
Companies increasingly use social and environmental accounting and reporting (SEAR) to measure, manage, and report their influence on ecological and social issues, i.e., climate change and human rights violations. One reason for the increased use of SEAR is that companies aim to support sustainable aspects in their business decision-making.
Nowadays, there are many different tools, frameworks, and standards for SEAR that companies can use. Beyond the content presented in the tool itself, e.g., social and/or ecological information, these tools differ, among others, by the language used and the type of data collected (e.g., qualitative, quantitative, or monetary data). One the one hand, the range of different approaches for SEAR allows industry- and company-specific monitoring and reporting of sustainable issues. On the other hand, this variety as well as the lack of a common reference framework can lead to uncertainty of corporate decision-makers and stakeholders regarding the use and comparability of these approaches. While numerous previous scholars present advantages and opportunities of the use of SEAR for companies and society, there is a rising number of scholars criticizing the way (social and environmental) accounting and reporting is used today and its impact on a company’s environmental orientation and decision-making. Further, there is only limited literature on the question of which approach to use and how to use and introduce the particular approach for supporting sustainable decision-making within companies.
This dissertation aims to expand previous literature by clarifying the effects of SEAR on corporate decision-making and its influencing factors. Additionally, antecedents for implementation and use of SEAR in regard to supporting sustainability decision-making are discussed. For this purpose, the given dissertation investigates public sustainability reports by companies with different environmental orientation, conducts two survey-based case studies on the effects of different types of SEAR and one qualitative case study on the antecedents of institutionalizing management accounting change through SEAR.
The results lead to seven criteria that practitioners and researchers should recognize for supporting successful SEAR regarding a company’s environmental orientation, the role of employees and leadership as well as the specific SEAR tool itself. Additionally, this dissertation leads to several contributions to the scientific discussion and its influences on corporate environmental orientation and decision-making.
