From ‘Responsible’ to ‘Sustainable’: A Contingent Analysis of Responsible Entrepreneurship and Product Innovation Performance in an Emerging Economy

Abstract

While debate on responsible entrepreneurial activities for sustainable development is burgeoning, studies examining whether small and medium‐sized firms (SMEs) can benefit from responsible entrepreneurship remain underexplored. In this study, we draw on stakeholder theory to fill this literature gap by investigating the effect of responsible entrepreneurship on product innovation performance. We also consider the contingent roles of stakeholder relationship capability and environmental information sharing in this relationship. Our results from analysing survey data from 172 firms in Nigeria (an emerging economy) demonstrate that responsible entrepreneurship has a positive relationship with product innovation performance. In addition, we uncover that stakeholder relationship capability amplifies the product innovation performance benefits of responsible entrepreneurship. Furthermore, our results reveal that environmental information sharing strengthens the moderating effect of stakeholder relationship capability on the link between responsible entrepreneurship and product innovation performance. Importantly, these results support our contingent stakeholder perspective on responsible entrepreneurship and offer rich, nuanced insights for utilising responsible entrepreneurship in emerging market firms.