When Giving is Good for Encouraging Social Entrepreneurship *

Abstract

We develop a cognitive-affect model of social entrepreneurship that begins with empathy (i.e. perspective taking and empathic concern) and progresses through prosocial behavior to social entrepreneurship intention. We further propose two contingencies – namely entrepreneurial opportunity evaluation and exploitation - that moderate the proposed relationships. We verify theses effects with a sample of 537 respondents. Results suggest that prosocial behavior mediates the relationship between empathy (perspective taking and empathic concern) and social entrepreneurial intention. We also find that opportunity evaluation and opportunity exploitation moderate this mediating pathway.