Green Entrepreneurship: Should Legislators Invest in the Formation of Sustainable Hubs?

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper has adequate level of analysis, all the formal requirements are met.

I suggest further studies of the topic to assess the European policy's impact on the development of green startups.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer, 

Thank you for your helpful and warranted comments. Per your suggestions, we have added several related studies with a specific focus on European policy on green startups. Please see lines 202-203 and 821-823. The added sources are:

Ionescu, G. H., Firoiu, D., Pîrvu, R., Enescu, M., Rădoi, M. I., & Cojocaru, T. M. (2020). The potential for innovation and entrepreneurship in EU countries in the context of sustainable development. Sustainability, 12(18), 7250.

Gifford, E., & McKelvey, M. (2019). Knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship and S3: conceptualizing strategies for sustainability. Sustainability, 11(18), 4824.

Prezioso, M., & Coronato, M. (2014). Entrepreneurship and territorial behavior: how to exercise competitiveness in sustainability in Europe.

Drago, C., & Gatto, A. (2022). An interval‐valued composite indicator for energy efficiency and green entrepreneurship. Business Strategy and the Environment. 1–20.

Thank you again for your time and effort reviewing our manuscript. We are looking forward to publishing our article. 

Reviewer 2 Report

Thank you for the opportunity to read the paper. The theme is actual and relevant to the field. The objectives are clear and well defined. It addresses a topic which is very important and with potential high impact in the economy. The theoretical framework is consistent and well designed. The cited references are relevant to the research. However, I suggest to authors to include in the literature review and/or discussion the following:

Jones, G. (2017). Profits and sustainability: A history of green entrepreneurship. Oxford University Press.

Allen, J. C., & Malin, S. (2008). Green entrepreneurship: a method for managing natural resources?. Society and natural resources, 21(9), 828-844.

Ndubisi, N. O., & Nair, S. R. (2009). Green entrepreneurship (GE) and green value added (GVA): A conceptual framework. International Journal of Entrepreneurship, 13, 21.

Nikolaou, E. I., Ierapetritis, D., & Tsagarakis, K. P. (2011). An evaluation of the prospects of green entrepreneurship development using a SWOT analysis. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 18(1), 1-16.

Lotfi, M., Yousefi, A., & Jafari, S. (2018). The effect of emerging green market on green entrepreneurship and sustainable development in knowledge-based companies. Sustainability, 10(7), 2308.

Hypotheses are well organized and supported by the references.

The sample is a representative.

The final remarks / conclusions are consistent with the results and objectives.

Proofreading suggested.

 I find the topic important from both academic and practitioner perspectives. Good job!

 

 

Author Response

Dear Reviewer, 

Thank you for your helpful comments. Per your suggestions, we have added the sources from your list into the manuscript.

We appreciate that you took the time and effort to review our manuscript. We are looking forward to publishing our article. 

Reviewer 3 Report

My congratulations on the article. I think it is very well written, with a good theoretical framework, an adequate and well-implemented methodology, and above all a thorough discussion. 

I think the article adheres to the scope of the paper and makes a clear contribution. 

The only point where I would suggest a change is in the presentation of the research gap. In fact, the authors present an argumentation to justify the research, which seems to me completely valid, but which is not based on references. In particular, I refer to lines 28 to 58 where a revision is needed so that the statements are adequately referenced.

Apart from that, my congratulations. Excellent article.

Author Response

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for your comments. Per your suggestions, we have added several references to outline the gaps in the research. You will find the revisions in lines 28-30 and 60-62. The sources that we have added are: 

Jones, G. (2017). Profits and sustainability: A history of green entrepreneurship. Oxford University Press.

Gast, J., Gundolf, K., & Cesinger, B. (2017). Doing business in a green way: A systematic review of the ecological sustainability entrepreneurship literature and future research directions. Journal of Cleaner Production, 147, 44-56.

Henry, M., Bauwens, T., Hekkert, M., & Kirchherr, J. (2020). A typology of circular start-ups: An Analysis of 128 circular business models. Journal of Cleaner Production, 245, 118528.

Tiba, S., van Rijnsoever, F. J., & Hekkert, M. P. (2020). The lighthouse effect: How successful entrepreneurs influence the sustainability-orientation of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Journal of cleaner production, 264, 121616.

Demirel, P., Li, Q. C., Rentocchini, F., & Tamvada, J. P. (2019). Born to be green: new insights into the economics and management of green entrepreneurship. Small Business Economics, 52(4), 759-771.

Thank you again for your time and effort reviewing our manuscript. We are looking forward to publishing our article.