From green to growth: The effect of Go Green on entrepreneurial growth aspirations

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of small- and medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs') pursuit of Go Green attitudes, characterized by the inclusion of environmental objectives in their strategic planning, on their entrepreneurial growth aspirations (EGAs) through the theory of planned behavior. We theorize that embracing Go Green attitudes can lead to heightened growth intentions; however, the positive relationship between Go Green attitudes and EGAs is weakened in institutional contexts that have more pronounced green subjective norms. Furthermore, the relationship between Go Green attitudes and EGAs is positively mediated by firm innovation, which serves as a behavioral control for SMEs' aspirations to grow their businesses. The empirical results we obtained from investigating a large sample of 16,074 SMEs in 39 economies are consistent with our theorization, and robust against various checks.