Public versus private interest in social entrepreneurship: Can one serve two masters?

Abstract

Social entrepreneurship is an important policy tool for addressing social and environmental problems. Social entrepreneurship has also gained popularity as a career choice among younger people, including millennials. However, few studies have examined the predictors of intention to engage in social entrepreneurship as a means of both creating public good and serving one’s own interests. This article seeks to answer the important question of what drives social entrepreneurial intention. Conceptualizing social entrepreneurship as a public- and private-value response to sustainability challenges, a set of hypotheses regarding the association between public service motivation, money ethics and intention to initiate social entrepreneurship were tested using survey data from 662 millennials in Indonesia. Structural equation modeling and multiple regressions revealed that both public service motivation and money ethics had direct and indirect effects on intention to engage in social entrepreneurship. Public service motivation was a stronger predictor of intention than money ethics were.