IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp17158.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Entrepreneurship Is Dangerously Obsessed with Growth and Incompatible with Current Visions of a Post-growth Society

Author

Listed:
  • Naudé, Wim

    (RWTH Aachen University)

Abstract

Entrepreneurship scholarship and policy are based on the myth of firm growth as imperative and the related myth of perpetual economic growth. This paper takes issue with the obsession with this growth myth, discussing the dangers it poses. Green growth and sustainable entrepreneurship are exposed as oxymorons. Given the dangers and the impossibility of perpetual growth, the paper then tries to answer the question of what role entrepreneurship could play in a post-growth society or in degrowth (the proposed approach to get there). The tentative conclusion is that entrepreneurship is incompatible with current visions of post-growth and degrowth. Degrowth and post-growth societies are post-entrepreneurship societies. While seeing how post-growth and degrowth could be made compatible with entrepreneurship is complicated, it does not mean it is impossible. More imagination and attention by entrepreneurship and post-growth scholars on the nature of entrepreneurship beyond growth is required sooner rather than later. Since economic growth is not perpetual, time is running out.

Suggested Citation

  • Naudé, Wim, 2024. "Entrepreneurship Is Dangerously Obsessed with Growth and Incompatible with Current Visions of a Post-growth Society," IZA Discussion Papers 17158, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17158
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp17158.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Johan Wiklund & Dean Shepherd, 2003. "Aspiring for, and Achieving Growth: The Moderating Role of Resources and Opportunities," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(8), pages 1919-1941, December.
    2. Marc-Arthur Diaye & Sy-Hoa Ho & Rim Oueghlissi, 2022. "ESG performance and economic growth: a panel co-integration analysis," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 49(1), pages 99-122, February.
    3. Florian Léon, 2022. "The elusive quest for high-growth firms in Africa: when other metrics of performance say nothing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 225-246, January.
    4. Anand, Amitabh & Argade, Padmaja & Barkemeyer, Ralf & Salignac, Fanny, 2021. "Trends and patterns in sustainable entrepreneurship research: A bibliometric review and research agenda," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(3).
    5. Naudé, Wim, 2024. "Is the Scholarly Field of Entrepreneurship at Its End?," IZA Discussion Papers 16916, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Lucas Chancel & Thomas Piketty, 2021. "Global Income Inequality, 1820–2020: the Persistence and Mutation of Extreme Inequality [Global Inequality of Hourly Income, 1980–2020]," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(6), pages 3025-3062.
    7. Zoltán J. Ács & László Szerb & Esteban Lafuente & Ainsley Lloyd, 2018. "The Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index," SpringerBriefs in Economics, in: Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index 2018, chapter 0, pages 21-37, Springer.
    8. Olk, Christopher & Schneider, Colleen & Hickel, Jason, 2023. "How to pay for saving the world: Modern Monetary Theory for a degrowth transition," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 120343, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Lamoreaux, N., 2019. "The Problem of Bigness: From Standard Oil to Google," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1963, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    10. Leonhardt, Heidi & Jutschen, Maria & Spash, Clive L., 2017. "To Grow or Not to Grow? That is the Question: Lessons for Social Ecological Transformation from Small-Medium Enterprises," SRE-Discussion Papers 2017/06, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    11. Naomi R. Lamoreaux, 2019. "The Problem of Bigness: From Standard Oil to Google," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(3), pages 94-117, Summer.
    12. repec:zbw:inwedp:692017 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Giorgos Kallis & Hug March, 2015. "Imaginaries of Hope: The Utopianism of Degrowth," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 105(2), pages 360-368, March.
    14. Scott Shane, 2009. "Why encouraging more people to become entrepreneurs is bad public policy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 141-149, August.
    15. Paul D. L. Ritchie & Joseph J. Clarke & Peter M. Cox & Chris Huntingford, 2021. "Overshooting tipping point thresholds in a changing climate," Nature, Nature, vol. 592(7855), pages 517-523, April.
    16. Clive L. Spash, 2015. "The Future Post-Growth Society," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 46(2), pages 366-380, March.
    17. Muñoz, Pablo & Kimmitt, Jonathan, 2019. "Social mission as competitive advantage: A configurational analysis of the strategic conditions of social entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 854-861.
    18. Zoltan Acs, 2008. "How is Entrepreneurship Good for Economic Growth?," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 21, pages 291-301, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Timothy M. Lenton & Johan Rockström & Owen Gaffney & Stefan Rahmstorf & Katherine Richardson & Will Steffen & Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, 2019. "Climate tipping points — too risky to bet against," Nature, Nature, vol. 575(7784), pages 592-595, November.
    20. Rögnvaldur Hannesson, 2021. "Are We Seeing Dematerialization of World GDP?," Biophysical Economics and Resource Quality, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 1-6, June.
    21. Rätzer, Matthias & Hartz, Ronald & Winkler, Ingo, 2018. "Editorial: Post-Growth Organizations," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 29(3), pages 193-205.
    22. Leendertse, Jip & Schrijvers, Mirella & Stam, Erik, 2022. "Measure Twice, Cut Once: Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Metrics," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(9).
    23. Joshua Farley & Matthew Burke & Gary Flomenhoft & Brian Kelly & D. Forrest Murray & Stephen Posner & Matthew Putnam & Adam Scanlan & Aaron Witham, 2013. "Monetary and Fiscal Policies for a Finite Planet," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(6), pages 1-25, June.
    24. Cyron, Thomas & Zoellick, Jan Cornelius, 2018. "Business Development in Post-Growth Economies: Challenging Assumptions in the Existing Business Growth Literature," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 29(3), pages 206-229.
    25. David B. Audretsch & Antje Fiedler, 2022. "The Vietnamese entrepreneurship paradox: how can entrepreneurs thrive without political and economic freedom?," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 1179-1197, August.
    26. Dittmer, Kristofer, 2015. "100 percent reserve banking: A critical review of green perspectives," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 9-16.
    27. Jackson, Tim & Victor, Peter A., 2015. "Does credit create a ‘growth imperative’? A quasi-stationary economy with interest-bearing debt," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 32-48.
    28. Herman E. Daly, 1972. "In Defense of a Steady-State Economy," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 54(5), pages 945-954.
    29. Coad, Alex & Binder, Martin, 2014. "Causal linkages between work and life satisfaction and their determinants in a structural VAR approach," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 263-268.
    30. Andrew L. Fanning & Daniel W. O’Neill & Jason Hickel & Nicolas Roux, 2022. "The social shortfall and ecological overshoot of nations," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 5(1), pages 26-36, January.
    31. Luis Bettencourt & Geoffrey West, 2010. "A unified theory of urban living," Nature, Nature, vol. 467(7318), pages 912-913, October.
    32. James D Ward & Paul C Sutton & Adrian D Werner & Robert Costanza & Steve H Mohr & Craig T Simmons, 2016. "Is Decoupling GDP Growth from Environmental Impact Possible?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(10), pages 1-14, October.
    33. Blauwhof, Frederik Berend, 2012. "Overcoming accumulation: Is a capitalist steady-state economy possible?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 254-261.
    34. Myron J. Gordon & Jeffrey S. Rosenthal, 2003. "Capitalism's growth imperative," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 27(1), pages 25-48, January.
    35. Johan Rockström & Joyeeta Gupta & Dahe Qin & Steven J. Lade & Jesse F. Abrams & Lauren S. Andersen & David I. Armstrong McKay & Xuemei Bai & Govindasamy Bala & Stuart E. Bunn & Daniel Ciobanu & Fabric, 2023. "Safe and just Earth system boundaries," Nature, Nature, vol. 619(7968), pages 102-111, July.
    36. Stefan Giljum & Martin Bruckner & Aldo Martinez, 2015. "Material Footprint Assessment in a Global Input-Output Framework," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 19(5), pages 792-804, October.
    37. Maksim Belitski & Tatiana Stettler & William Wales & Jeff Martin, 2023. "Speed and Scaling: An Investigation of Accelerated Firm Growth," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 639-687, May.
    38. Wim Naudé, 2022. "From the entrepreneurial to the ossified economy," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 46(1), pages 105-131.
    39. Souza, Ricardo Rodrigues de & Seifert, Rene Eugenio, 2018. "Understanding the Alternative of Not Growing for Small Mature Businesses," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 29(4), pages 333-348.
    40. David Urbano & Sebastian Aparicio & David Audretsch, 2019. "Twenty-five years of research on institutions, entrepreneurship, and economic growth: what has been learned?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(1), pages 21-49, June.
    41. Wim Naudé & José Amorós & Oscar Cristi, 2014. "“Surfeiting, the appetite may sicken”: entrepreneurship and happiness," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 523-540, March.
    42. Matthias Schmelzer & Tonny Nowshin, 2023. "Ecological Reparations and Degrowth: Towards a Convergence of Alternatives Around World-making After Growth," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 66(1), pages 15-22, June.
    43. Philip Boland, 2014. "The Relationship between Spatial Planning and Economic Competitiveness: The ‘Path to Economic Nirvana’ or a ‘Dangerous Obsession’?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(4), pages 770-787, April.
    44. Zoltan J. Acs & László Szerb & Erkko Autio, 2016. "Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index 2015," SpringerBriefs in Economics, Springer, edition 1, number 978-3-319-26730-2, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Naudé, Wim, 2023. "Melancholy Hues: The Futility of Green Growth and Degrowth, and the Inevitability of Societal Collapse," IZA Discussion Papers 16139, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Naudé, Wim, 2023. "We Already Live in a Degrowth World, and We Do Not like It," IZA Discussion Papers 16191, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Richters, Oliver & Siemoneit, Andreas, 2017. "Fear of stagnation? A review on growth imperatives," VÖÖ Discussion Papers 6/2017, Vereinigung für Ökologische Ökonomie e.V. (VÖÖ).
    4. Minniti, Maria & Naudé, Wim & Stam, Erik, 2023. "Is Productive Entrepreneurship Getting Scarcer? A Reflection on the Contemporary Relevance of Baumol's Typology," IZA Discussion Papers 16408, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Christian Reiner & Christian Bellak, 2023. "Hat die ökonomische Macht von Unternehmen in Österreich zugenommen? Teil 2," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 49(2), pages 17-76.
    6. Richters, Oliver & Siemoneit, Andreas, 2017. "Consistency and stability analysis of models of a monetary growth imperative," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 114-125.
    7. Engler, John-Oliver & Kretschmer, Max-Friedemann & Rathgens, Julius & Ament, Joe A. & Huth, Thomas & von Wehrden, Henrik, 2024. "15 years of degrowth research: A systematic review," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    8. László Szerb & Éva Komlósi & Balázs Páger, 2016. "Measuring Entrepreneurship and Optimizing Entrepreneurship Policy Efforts in the European Union," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 14(03), pages 08-23, October.
    9. repec:ces:ifodic:v:14:y:2016:i:3:p:19255694 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Richters, Oliver & Siemoneit, Andreas, 2019. "Wachstumszwang – eine Übersicht," ZOE Discussion Papers 3, ZOE. institute for future-fit economies, Bonn.
    11. João Ricardo Faria & Laudo Ogura & Mauricio Prado & Christopher J. Boudreaux, 2023. "Government investments and entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 1657-1670, December.
    12. Boudreaux, Christopher & Caudill, Steven, 2019. "Entrepreneurship, Institutions, and Economic Growth: Does the Level of Development Matter?," MPRA Paper 94244, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Clive L. Spash, 2019. "Time for a Paradigm Shift: From Economic Growth and Price-Making Markets to Social Ecological Economics," SRE-Disc sre-disc-2019_07, Institute for Multilevel Governance and Development, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    14. Ament, Joe, 2020. "An ecological monetary theory," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    15. Jolanda Hessels & Wim Naudé, 2019. "The Intersection Of The Fields Of Entrepreneurship And Development Economics: A Review Towards A New View," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 389-403, April.
    16. Richters, Oliver & Siemoneit, Andreas, 2019. "Growth imperatives: Substantiating a contested concept," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 126-137.
    17. Ioannis Giotopoulos & Alexandra Kontolaimou & Aggelos Tsakanikas, 2017. "Drivers of high-quality entrepreneurship: what changes did the crisis bring about?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 913-930, April.
    18. Binder, Martin & Blankenberg, Ann-Kathrin, 2021. "Self-employment and Subjective Well-Being," GLO Discussion Paper Series 744, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    19. Slesman, Ly & Abubakar, Yazid Abdullahi & Mitra, Jay, 2021. "Foreign direct investment and entrepreneurship: Does the role of institutions matter?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(4).
    20. Spash, Clive L., 2020. "A tale of three paradigms: Realising the revolutionary potential of ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    21. Oliver Richters & Andreas Siemoneit, 2018. "The contested concept of growth imperatives: Technology and the fear of stagnation," Working Papers V-414-18, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised Nov 2018.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    entrepreneurship; economic growth; capitalism; polycrisis; climate change;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • O44 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Environment and Growth
    • P17 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Performance and Prospects

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17158. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.