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Entrepreneurship and Open Innovation from the Perspective of Sustainable Business Models: 2nd Edition

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 16 August 2026 | Viewed by 1894

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Peng Zhou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF5 2QL, UK
Interests: sustainability; innovation; entrepreneurship; green finance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Bo Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
Interests: sustainability; human resources management; innovation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on the intersection of entrepreneurship, open innovation, and sustainable business models. In an era marked by environmental challenges and resource scarcity, exploring how sustainable business models can be driven by and contribute to entrepreneurship and innovation is essential. Sustainability has a positive externality, so classical market solutions (patenting, copyright, etc.) may fail to promote sustainable innovation. Therefore, open innovation is crucial in fostering sustainable practices and addressing environmental challenges. It encourages organizations to collaborate with external stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, research institutes, and NGOs. By involving diverse perspectives and expertise, it promotes the co-creation of sustainable solutions and the diffusion of sustainable technologies. 

This Special Issue aims to bring together cutting-edge research that examines the role of entrepreneurs and innovators in stimulating sustainable business models and advancing sustainable open innovations. We invite contributions from researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and industry experts to explore the theoretical foundations, empirical evidence, and practical implications of entrepreneurship and open innovation in sustainability.

Authors are encouraged to submit original research articles, case studies, and conceptual papers that provide theoretical insights, empirical evidence, and practical implications for sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation. Submissions should demonstrate rigorous methodology, interdisciplinary perspectives, and relevance to the field of sustainability. Potential topics for submission include, but are not limited to:

  • Sustainable entrepreneurship: Investigating how entrepreneurs integrate sustainability into their business models, create value propositions, and contribute to sustainable development goals.
  • Open innovation: Examining how open innovation approaches and collaborations foster sustainable innovation, knowledge sharing, and the development of sustainable products, services, and technologies. 
  • Circular economy and business models: Exploring how entrepreneurship and open innovation contribute to the transition from a linear to a circular economy, including the design of circular business models and the implementation of circular supply chains. 
  • Social and inclusive entrepreneurship: Analyzing the role of social entrepreneurs and inclusive business models in addressing social and environmental challenges, promoting social equity, and creating shared value.
  • Technological advancements: Investigating the impact of emerging technologies, such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, big data, Internet of Things, cloud computing, and 3D printing, on the design and implementation of sustainable business models.
  • Sustainable finance: Exploring the roles of green finance and other financial instruments in supporting sustainable business models, projects, and innovations. 
  • Policy and institutional frameworks: Examining the role of policies, regulations, and institutional support in fostering sustainable entrepreneurship and open innovation and identifying barriers and enablers for their implementation.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Peng Zhou
Dr. Bo Zhang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • entrepreneurship
  • innovation
  • knowledge sharing
  • sustainable business model
  • circular economy
  • sustainable finance
  • social equity
  • policy framework

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 542 KB  
Article
Can Executives with Environmental Expertise Promote Open Innovation?
by Jiaqi Feng, Qian Song, Haitao Cheng and Miaohui Huang
Sustainability 2026, 18(8), 3708; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18083708 - 9 Apr 2026
Viewed by 389
Abstract
This paper examines whether executives’ environmental expertise shapes firms’ engagement in open innovation. Open innovation requires long-term, uncertain, and relationship-specific investments, yet such investments are often underprovided due to manage rial short-termism. Based on stewardship theory, we argue that environmental expertise embeds a [...] Read more.
This paper examines whether executives’ environmental expertise shapes firms’ engagement in open innovation. Open innovation requires long-term, uncertain, and relationship-specific investments, yet such investments are often underprovided due to manage rial short-termism. Based on stewardship theory, we argue that environmental expertise embeds a long-horizon cognitive orientation in executives and alleviates managerial myopia. Based on the upper echelons theory, we posit that executives with environmental expertise could significantly influence corporate strategies, specifically enhancing corporate open innovation activities. Using a panel of 40,133 firm–year observations from Chinese listed firms over 2002–2022, we find that firms led by environmentally expertised executives exhibit significantly greater open innovation, measured by co-patenting activities. To address endogeneity concerns, we implement a stacked difference-in-differences design and propensity score matching. Our results remain robust in a battery of robustness tests. Consistent with the managerial myopia alleviation argument, we show that the effect of executives with green expertise on open innovation is stronger in settings where short-term pressures are more pronounced, including firms with weaker governance and higher capital market pressure. This study highlights and provides micro-level evidence on how environmental human capital enables firms to adopt sustainability-oriented business models through open innovation. Overall, our findings contribute to the literature on sustainable entrepreneurship and open innovation and offer practical implications for firms and policymakers seeking to support long-term, innovation-driven sustainability transitions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Entrepreneurship and Open Innovation from the Perspective of Sustainable Business Models: 2nd Edition)
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34 pages, 573 KB  
Article
From Shared Knowledge to Sustainable Value: Social Innovation-Based Entrepreneurship in the Transition Towards Circular Business Models
by Carlos Merino, Lorena Martinez and Yolanda Bueno
Sustainability 2026, 18(5), 2193; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18052193 - 25 Feb 2026
Viewed by 579
Abstract
The transition towards circular economy models increasingly depends on entrepreneurial initiatives capable of integrating economic viability with social and environmental objectives. However, existing research provides limited explanation of how sustainable entrepreneurs mobilise shared knowledge and social innovation to navigate tensions between competing institutional [...] Read more.
The transition towards circular economy models increasingly depends on entrepreneurial initiatives capable of integrating economic viability with social and environmental objectives. However, existing research provides limited explanation of how sustainable entrepreneurs mobilise shared knowledge and social innovation to navigate tensions between competing institutional logics in circular contexts. This study clarifies the role of shared knowledge and social innovation by explaining how circular sustainable value is created through circular business model development. This article develops an integrative framework based on a structured synthesis of the literature on sustainable entrepreneurship, social innovation, shared knowledge, institutional logic, and circular business models. The study does not rely on primary empirical data but focuses on theoretical integration across complementary research to advance conceptual understanding of circular value creation. The article proposes a three-stage framework explaining how shared knowledge is transformed into circular sustainable value through social innovation mechanisms. It illustrates how diverse knowledge inputs interact with institutional logics, how social innovation processes translate these inputs into collaborative practices, and how circular business models generate multidimensional value under conditions of institutional complexity. The framework offers guidance for entrepreneurs, policymakers, and ecosystem actors involved in circular economy transitions and helps clarify how collaborative knowledge practices and social innovation processes can support the design and implementation of circular business models. This article does not empirically test the proposed framework. The findings are limited to theoretical development. Future research is encouraged to examine the framework empirically through longitudinal case studies, comparative designs, or mixed-method approaches, and to operationalise its key constructs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Entrepreneurship and Open Innovation from the Perspective of Sustainable Business Models: 2nd Edition)
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