Evaluating the Credibility of Entrepreneurs’ Impact Promises in Early-Stage Impact Investing

Guillaume Dumont

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 2024, vol. 48, issue 6, 1525-1555

Abstract: This article investigates ethnographically how early-stage impact investors evaluate the credibility of the impact promises made by social entrepreneurs. Uncovering how investors carry out this task beyond observable characteristics and self-reported prosocial intentions, I propose that their evaluation of impact promises centers on four interrelated aspects of the entrepreneurs’ behavior: impact metrics, impact track record, impact management, and impact prospects. I articulate these aspects into a framework explaining how credible beliefs about entrepreneurs’ impact promises emerge among investors and embolden their investment decisions.

Keywords: impact investing; social enterprise; prosocial intention; impact promise; ethnography (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:entthe:v:48:y:2024:i:6:p:1525-1555

DOI: 10.1177/10422587241249337

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