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

Guillaume Dumont
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Guillaume Dumont: EM - EMLyon Business School

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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; Early stage entrepreneurship; Ethnography; Evaluation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-11
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Published in Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 2024, 48 (6), 1525-1555 p. ⟨10.1177/10422587241249337⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04629316

DOI: 10.1177/10422587241249337

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