Risky business: Comparing the opportunity evaluation decisions of social and commercial entrepreneurs

Matthew D. Bird, Patrick Reichert and Vanina Farber

Economics Letters, 2025, vol. 256, issue C

Abstract: Via a choice-based conjoint experiment and Hierarchical Bayesian Analysis (HBA) of 2538 decisions from 141 entrepreneurs, we model opportunity evaluations as a utility maximizing response to identify and compare part-worth utilities for distinct levels of value capture and risk/uncertainty. Contrary to predictions from existing theories of the social entrepreneur, we find that social entrepreneurs are more risk averse and have less utility for uncertainty. Exploratory post-hoc analysis indicates that the risk aversion of social entrepreneurs is partly driven by lower collective efficacy, suggesting that social entrepreneurs conceptualize risk and uncertainty as an “other-regarding” construct that considers and affects additional stakeholders. Just as social entrepreneurs seek to maximize social value, they likewise construe the risk of loss through a social lens.

Keywords: Social entrepreneurship; Opportunity evaluation; Value capture; Risk; Conjoint analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D81 D91 L26 L3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:256:y:2025:i:c:s0165176525004719

DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2025.112634

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