Importance Precise criteria are required to design and develop tools of the State aid to environmental entrepreneurship. They will help define what entities can be classified as environmental businesses. However, the issue still raises controversies, without having a generally accepted and legislative framework. Objectives I analyze academic literature in order to identify foreign and Russian researchers' approaches to determining the substance and concept of environmental entrepreneurship. The article points out and sums up distinctions of ecopreneurship from other entrepreneurship, and analyzes the existing approaches to classifying ecopreneurship types. I present my own definition and criteria of ecopreneurship. Methods The research employs methods of logic, thematic and content analysis of the text. Results The article enlists criteria for qualifying an entity as an environmental business. I formulate my own definition of environmental entrepreneurship in line with the criteria. Conclusions and Relevance Environmental entrepreneurship shall mean business activities aimed to find and use business capabilities for satisfying environmental needs of the society and solving environmental issues. The findings may contribute to a more profound conceptual insight into the environmental entrepreneurship theory. They also may prove useful for interested parties.
Keywords: entrepreneurship, environmental entrepreneurship, environmental entrepreneurship, ecopreneurship, sustainable development
References:
Isaak R. Making of the Ecopreneur. Greener Management International, 2002, no. 38, pp. 81–91.
Pacheco D., Dean T., Payne D. Escaping the Green Prison: Entrepreneurship and the Creation of Opportunities for Sustainable Development. Journal of Business Venturing, 2010, vol. 25, iss. 5, pp. 464–480. URL: Link
Al-Saleh Y., Mahroum S. A Critical Review of the Interplay Between Policy Instruments and Business Models: Greening the Built Environment a Case in Point. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2015, vol. 109, pp. 260–270. URL: Link
Shirokova G.V. [Entrepreneurial orientation: Origins of the concept and the main research approaches]. Rossiiskii zhurnal menedzhmenta = Russian Management Journal, 2012, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 55–72. (In Russ.)
Isaak R. Globalization and Green Entrepreneurship. Greener Management International, 1997, no. 18, pp. 80–90.
Anderson A.R. Cultivating the Garden of Eden: Environmental Entrepreneuring. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 1998, vol. 11, iss. 2, pp. 135–143. URL: Link
Keogh P., Polonsky M. Environmental Commitment: A Basis for Environmental Entrepreneurship? Journal of Organizational Change Management, 1998, vol. 11, iss. 1, pp. 38–49. URL: Link
Pastakia A. Grassroots Ecopreneurs: Change Agents for a Sustainable Society. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 1998, vol. 11, iss. 2, pp.157–173.
Schaltegger S. A Framework for Ecopreneurship: Leading Bioneers and Environmental Managers to Ecopreneurship. Greener Management International, 2002, no. 38, pp. 45–58.
Schaper M. Introduction: The Essence of Ecopreneurship. Greener Management International, 2002, no. 38, pp. 26–30.
Beveridge R., Guy S. The Rise of the Eco-Preneur and the Messy World of Environmental Innovation. Local Environment, 2005, vol. 10, iss. 6, pp. 665–676. URL: Link
Gibbs D. Sustainability Entrepreneurs, Ecopreneurs and the Development of a Sustainable Economy. Greener Management International, 2009, no. 55, pp. 63–78.
Kirkwood J., Walton S. How Green is Green? Ecopreneurs Balancing Environmental Concerns and Business Goals. Australian Journal of Environmental Management, 2014, vol. 21, iss. 1, pp. 37–51. URL: Link
Walley E.E., Taylor D. Opportunists, Champions, Mavericks? A Typology of Green Entrepreneurs. Greener Management International, 2002, no. 38, pp. 31–43.
Dean T.J., McMullen J.S. Toward a Theory of Sustainable Entrepreneurship: Reducing Environmental Degradation Through Entrepreneurial Action. Journal of Business Venturing, 2007, vol. 22, iss. 1, pp. 50–76. URL: Link
Naumov A.A. [To the issue on the essence of ecological business]. Vestnik Povolzhskogo gosudarstvennogo tekhnologicheskogo universiteta. Ser. Ekonomika i upravlenie = Vestnik of Volga State University of Technology. Series Economy and Management, 2007, no. 1, pp. 68–75. (In Russ.)
Anderson T.L., Leal D.R. Enviro-Capitalists: Doing Good While Doing Well. Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., 1997, 189 p.
Schuyler G. Merging Economic and Environmental Concerns Through Ecopreneurship. Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Clearinghouse on Entrepreneurship Education. DIGEST, 1998, no. 98-8.
Hawken P., Lovins A., Lovins L. Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution. US Green Building Council, 1999, 416 p.
Isaak R. Green Logic: Ecopreneurship, Theory and Ethics. Routledge, 1998, 144 p.
Varennikova E.V. [Environmentally-oriented and environmental entrepreneurship as economic categories]. Upravlenie ekonomicheskimi sistemami: elektronnyi nauchnyi zhurnal, 2011, no. 28. URL: Link (In Russ.)
Stevenson H.H., Jarillo-Mossi J.C. A Paradigm of Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurial Management. Strategic Management Journal, 1990, vol. 11, iss. 4, pp. 17–27.
Chernyakhovskii E.R. [Prospects for the development of environmental entrepreneurship]. Ekonomika prirodopol'zovaniya = Economics of Natural Resources Management, 2006, no. 4, pp. 88–93. (In Russ.)
Gazizova O.V., Abdullina A.R. [Environmental business as one of promising areas of Russia's innovative economy]. Vestnik Kazanskogo tekhnologicheskogo universiteta = Herald of Kazan Technological University, 2009, no. 5, pp. 7–14. (In Russ.)
Fedorova T.M. [Mechanism of management of development of the State ecological business]. Sotsial'no-ekonomicheskie yavleniya i protsessy = Socio-Economic Phenomena and Processes, 2012, no. 2, pp. 122–125. (In Russ.)
Arent K.P. [Paths of development of ecological entrepreneurship in agriculture]. Prirodoobustroistvo = Environmental Engineering, 2014, no. 2, pp. 95–100. (In Russ.)
Elkina L.G., Mamleeva Ya.V. [Organizational and economic tools for the development of ecobusiness]. Rossiiskoe predprinimatel'stvo = Russian Journal of Entrepreneurship, 2007, no. 11-2, pp. 20–24. (In Russ.)
Jolink A., Niesten E. Sustainable Development and Business Models of Entrepreneurs in the Organic Food Industry. Business Strategy and the Environment, 2015, vol. 24, iss. 6, pp. 386–401. URL: Link
Tilley F., Young W. Sustainability Entrepreneurs. Could They be the True Wealth Generators of the Future? Greener Management International, 2009, no. 55, pp. 79–92.
Schaltegger S., Wagner M. Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Innovation: Categories and Interactions. Business Strategy and the Environment, 2011, vol. 20, iss. 4, pp. 222–237. URL: Link
Nacu C.M., Avasilcăi S. Technological Ecopreneurship: Conceptual Approaches. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2014, vol. 124, pp. 229–235. URL: Link
Parris D.L., McInnis-Bowers C.V. Social Entrepreneurship Questioning the Status Quo: Waste as a Resource. Journal of Economic Issues, 2014, vol. 48, iss. 2, pp. 359–365.
Lundberg C., Fredman P., Wall-Reinius S. Going for the Green? The Role of Money Among Nature-Based Tourism Entrepreneurs. Current Issues in Tourism, 2014, vol. 17, iss. 4, pp. 373–380. URL: Link
Kearins K., Collins E. Making Sense of Ecopreneurs' Decisions to Sell Up. Business Strategy and the Environment, 2012, vol. 21, iss. 2, pp. 71–85. URL: Link
DeMicco F., Seferis J., Bao Y., Scholz M.E. The Eco-Restaurant of the Future: A Case Study. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 2014, vol. 17, iss. 4, pp. 363–368. URL: Link
Portnov A.V. [Ecological entrepreneurship as the most important direction of the innovative development of a region]. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Ser. 3: Ekonomika. Ekologiya = Science Journal of VolSU. Global Economic System, 2012, no. 1, pp. 125–130. (In Russ.)