Entrepreneurs as Social Others: How Collective Interests and Selflessness Affect Funding Success

Abstract

Contemporary social theory assigns legitimacy to agents reflecting a transcending and universal purpose. By adopting the stance of rising above the self, entrepreneurs derive social authority and legitimate power from what Meyer (2010) refers to as Otherhood, or the shift in agency from the self to others. In this study, we explore how broad social conditions influence the construction of entrepreneurial opportunities and the mobilization of resources. Using crowdfunding data from technology projects, we find that the pursuit of a collective good and absence of self interest is a significant predictor of whether a project reaches its funding goal, controlling for quality considerations. We examine collective interests of two types, environmental and social. Our findings indicate that the effect of environmental interests is greater than those of social interests.