Entrepreneur as Change Agent: Antecedents and Moderators of Individual-Level Philanthropic Behavior
Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference (BCERC) 2008
Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research 2008
12 Pages Posted: 5 Mar 2009
Abstract
What motivates entrepreneurs' philanthropic acts? Philanthropy has been key to American social and cultural development, and it is also a major driver, along with entrepreneurship, of the American economy. To help researchers better understand the antecedents of entrepreneurs' philanthropic giving, we develop a theoretical model of individual-level philanthropic actions. As antecedents of philanthropic actions in our model, we include three theoretical constructs (immortality striving, legacy creation, and generativity) from the psychology and social psychology literatures. We also propose several variables that we expect to moderate these relationships including entrepreneur age, gender, religious orientation, and wealth. Lastly, we offer directions for future research.
Keywords: Entrepreneurship
JEL Classification: M13
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation