2009/03/01 by Wesley D. Sine, Wesley Sine, Brandon H. Lee +1 · 645 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Business #Ecology #Economic geography #Economic system #Economics #Energy, Environment, Economic Growth #Entrepreneurship #Finance #Forest Management and Policy #Industrial organization #Market economy #Natural resource #Political science #Politics #Scale (ratio) #Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy #Social capital #Social movement #Sociology
paper · doi:10.2189/asqu.2009.54.1.123
published in Administrative Science Quarterly 54(1), 123-155 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2009/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/08
Through a study of the emergent U.S. wind energy sector, 1978–1992, this paper examines how large-scale social movements external to an industry can influence the creation of new market opportunities and hence encourage entrepreneurship. We theorize that through the construction and propagation of cognitive frameworks, norms, values, and regulatory structures, and by offering a preexisting social structure, social movement organizations influence whether entrepreneurs attempt to start ventures in emerging sectors. We find that the direct and indirect effects of social resources (e.g., environmental groups) had a larger impact on entrepreneurial activity in this sector than the availability of natural resources such as land with high-quality wind. Greater numbers of environmental movement organization members increased nascent entrepreneurial activity, and this effect was mediated by favorable state regulatory policy. Greater membership numbers also enhanced the effects of important natural resources, market conditions, and skilled human capital on entrepreneurial activity. Taken together, these results have important implications for the study of social movements, entrepreneurship, and institutional theory.