The impact of protectability and proactiveness on the environmental performance of new ventures

Purpose Building on the natural resource-based view, this paper aims to explore the effects of technological protectability and proactiveness on new ventures’ environmental performance. Design/methodology/approach Data from 150 clean-technology ventures are analyzed using hierarchical and logistic regression analyses. Findings Empirical findings show that both protectability and proactive behavior increase environmental performance. Results further indicate a negative but not significant moderator effect of proactiveness on the protectability – environmental performance relationship. Research limitations/implications The research has been limited to clean-technology ventures. Findings provide empirical evidence on the link between proactiveness, a key dimension of entrepreneurial orientation, and environmental performance. The study further contributes to sustainable entrepreneurship research by showing that higher ecological gains can be achieved by proactive firms that are based on protected technologies. Practical implications The study provides a deeper understanding of the success factors of young firms with regard to their environmental impact. Findings suggest that policy makers and investors can use protectability and proactiveness as key characteristics to evaluate and foster a venture’s ecological potential. Originality/value The paper adds to existing literature on sustainable entrepreneurship by establishing a relationship between protectability, proactiveness and environmental performance.