I have been struggling with the emerging field of sustainable entrepreneurship, which is rooted in the concept of sustainable development that emerged from the conservation and environmental movement of the 1970s, so I did a brief analysis to try and understand the concept better. A Google search on sustainable development returns 30,600,000 websites, references and / or citations posted on the internet that suggest significant interest in all aspects of what constitutes ‘sustainable’. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines ‘sustainable’ as “… relating to, or being a method of collecting or using a resource so that the resource is not exhausted or permanently damaged; … or related to a lifestyle that involves the use of sustainable methods … “The key phrase is ‘not exhausted’ which I have indicated in bold. This was and still is the essence of sustainability that has produced a plethora of social economic movements, none as popular as sustainable development. Wikipedia [I’m not a fan of this web site, however it does serve a purpose in providing quick accounting of a subject] explains that sustainable development unites concern for the carrying capacity of natural systems; That is the carrying capacity of nature to sustain all life, that is, natural capital and the human challenges of economic growth.
Since the 1970s, when the concept of setting limits to developed growth emerged, the term “sustainability” was used and is used to combine ecology and economic growth, with terms such as “limits to growth” and “economy of steady state “contributing to the environmental movement that caused massive changes in building and zoning codes across the country related to economic development, particularly land development. The idea that we have unlimited resources to develop was challenged by the newer idea of limited resources that must be developed wisely in concert with nature and has resulted in competing forces that have shaped our economic development for the past forty years. Practitioners of sustainable development consider that it has three elements: environmental sustainability, economic sustainability, and socio-political sustainability. Special interest groups on both sides of the spectrum have vindicated this concept to perpetuate their own agendas. However, a common sense approach, in my opinion, has always been preferred, particularly when we agree almost unanimously in today’s world that there is a natural limit to resources that must be recognized. That said, I firmly believe that the free market has been and will continue to be the best place to allow the combination of economic development with sustainable development to take place.
An example of how the free market is used to achieve sustainability is the work begun by Dr. Brian Arthur of the Santa Fe Institute, who applied the natural principles of biology to the study of economics, particularly economic growth; which has become known as ‘The Santa Fe Approach’. Arthur was very interested in explaining how economic markets work, how businesses are formed, in terms of the natural world, and how the human organization, to grow, must adapt and assimilate to its environment, constantly adjusting to changes. The ‘Santa Fe Approach’ was a leading concept that helped pave the way for a new field in economics called ‘green economics’. The concept of sustainable development has been enriched by the new field of ecological economics popularized by Dr. Robert Costanza, who founded the International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE) and conducted much of the founding research at the University of Maryland. .
The goal of ecological economics is to ground economic thought and practice in physical reality, especially the laws of thermodynamics and biological systems. It accepts as a goal the improvement of human well-being through economic development and seeks to ensure its achievement through planning for the sustainable development of ecosystems and societies. Ecological economics is distinguished from neoclassical economics primarily by the claim that economics is a subfield of ecology, in the sense that ecology deals with the energy and matter transactions of life and Earth, and economics Human is, by definition, contained within this system. This system is defined as natural capital, which consists of all non-renewable resources such as oil, coal, gas and minerals, and renewable resources such as the ecosystems that included the planet, both in quantitative and qualitative terms. It involves terms like “carrying capacity,” which refers to nature’s ability to support human activities, and goes to the heart of what sustainable development is and from which sustainable entrepreneurship emerged.
A recent technical report entitled “Sustainable Entrepreneurship in SMEs. Theory and Practice” by Evy Crals and Lode Vereeck, defined sustainable development as the continued commitment of companies to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving quality. of the workforce, their families, local communities, society and the world at large, as well as future generations. From sustainable development, according to this white paper, sustainable entrepreneurship emerged defined as the continuous commitment of companies to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce, their families, the local and global community, as well as the future. generations. Okay then; Sustainable entrepreneurship may consider a more holistic approach to starting a business venture. But how does this relate to the true essence of entrepreneurship?
The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines an entrepreneur as one who organizes, manages and assumes the risk of a business or company. We often use commercial and business exchanges to refer to the same thing. The word “entrepreneur” comes from the French word “entrepreneur”, which means “to undertake”. In a business context, it means starting a business venture. Entrepreneurship and small business are typically used synonymously, interchangeably, and presented as one in the same. In reality, entrepreneurship differs from small businesses in four fundamental ways: amount of wealth creation, rate of wealth accumulation, risk, and innovation. [Reference: See the Green$: Achieving Your Entrepreneurial Dream, LOGOS Press, January 2011.]
In the case of acceptable definitions of sustainable entrepreneurship, where reference is made to the common good, I would like to clarify that sustainable entrepreneurship cannot and should not have as its objective the establishment of some type of common social good, as in a communal framework associated with planned economies. such as the former Soviet Union, East Germany, Cuba, Venezuela and the socialist African counties. It is an oxymoron to do so. Rather, the common good in a free market context is about job creation that produces disposable income that engenders increased demand for goods and services. This is then accompanied by a multiplier effect that allows a dollar to flow through the economy something like 2 times or more, generating additional demand for goods and services, further increasing disposition income, which results in increased corporate income for reinvestment. capital accumulation and business growth. This compound economic activity produces higher state and federal corporate and personal income tax revenues, allowing investment in infrastructure in public works such as roads, bridges, railroads, dams, and national lands such as parks, wetlands, mountain ranges, and the like.
Rather, in my opinion, sustainable entrepreneurship is the process of maintaining a level of business development that creates a paradigm shift in economic activity such that national GDP, job growth, capital investment, technological advance and the quality of life are incomparable, unsurpassed and unmatched. I realize this seems a bit altruistic and it sounds like I’m talking about Utopia. But I’am not. We can and must strive through local, state and national efforts to seek to establish an economic mindset that is strategically focused on entrepreneurship and authentic organic economic growth at the community level across America. We can and must embed the concept of sustainability in free market awareness and enable the consummate entrepreneur, seeking wealth creation within an environment of enormous risk and reward, through sustained invention and innovation, to achieve success. . At least we can forget that it was, has and will be business development that made our country great. We need a lot more of that now.