Features of entrepreneurial economic mind in Russian small eco-business

Abstract

The concept of sustainable development requires entrepreneurs to increase awareness and responsibility for business and society. In this regard, the question of the entrepreneurial attitudes in the economic sphere is of scientific interest. The study (N=413) reveals the specifics of economic attitudes of the entrepreneurs compared to employees. Business owners more soberly assess consumer behavior in terms of rationality, they are more inclined to invest, more optimistic about their financial future, and they are more competent in financial issues. At the same time, the cognitive economic activity of the entrepreneurs is expressed at the average level; they tend to evaluate the individual's independent achievements in the economic sphere lower, considering them as something ordinary. Four main strategies of the economic behavior of the entrepreneurs were identified: the strategy of economic activity based on financial knowledge, the strategy of high goals combined with low risk and financial optimism, the strategy of earning and spending money, and the strategy of savings and rationality. In general, business owners tend to agree with the idea of the social responsibility of rich people to the poor, which creates the prerequisites for the sustainable development of society.