Title: Validation of a measure of social entrepreneurship

Authors: Shawn M. Carraher; Dianne H.B. Welsh; Andrew Svilokos

Addresses: Jindal School of Management, University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W. Campbell Road, Richardson, TX 75080-3021, USA ' Bryan School of Business & Economics, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 516 Stirling Street, Greensboro, NC 27402-1670, USA ' US Army, 5760 NW 71 Terrace, Parkland, FL 33067, USA

Abstract: We first discuss the notion of social entrepreneurship and how it extends beyond its geopolitical confines. This includes the various definitions of being a social entrepreneur, mission, opportunities and challenges. While the field of social entrepreneurship is moving forward globally, there still lacks a measure of social entrepreneurship. We test an 11-item measure of social entrepreneurship using a sample of social entrepreneurs and general entrepreneurs in order to examine the reliability and validity of a new measure of social entrepreneurship. We find support for the convergent and divergent validity of the instrument as well as differences between social entrepreneurs and general entrepreneurs. We also find very good levels of internal consistency for the scale. Implications for future research are discussed.

Keywords: social entrepreneurship measures; measure validation; social entrepreneurs.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2016.077421

European Journal of International Management, 2016 Vol.10 No.4, pp.386 - 402

Published online: 30 Jun 2016 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article