A longitudinal comparison of capital structure between young for-profit social and commercial enterprises
DOI
10.1016/j.jbusvent.2017.12.006
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
3-1-2018
Publication Title
Journal of Business Venturing
Volume
33
Issue
2
First Page
225
Last Page
240
ISSN
8839026
Keywords
Capital structure, For-profit social enterprises, Imprinting, Social entrepreneurship
Abstract
We develop a new perspective on capital structure differences between for-profit social and commercial enterprises by combining imprinting and social entrepreneurship theory. Using a longitudinal matched sample, we find that for-profit social enterprises have 40% to 13% lower leverage and up to four times greater leverage stability over time than commercial enterprises. Our results suggest that these differences in capital structure derive from the process of prosocial organizing, which goes beyond the primary focus on financial preferences. Thus, for-profit social enterprises—and similar hybrid organizations, such as B corporations—may require theories adjusted to their context.
Open Access
Green Accepted
Preprint
Repository Citation
Siqueira, A., Guenster, N., Vanacker, T., & Crucke, S. (2018). A longitudinal comparison of capital structure between young for-profit social and commercial enterprises. Journal of Business Venturing, 33 (2), 225-240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2017.12.006