Social entrepreneurial ecosystems: human capital and alertness to opportunities

Purpose What shapes individuals’ decisions to pursue social entrepreneurship? Drawing on studies on human capital and alertness to opportunities as well as research on entrepreneurial ecosystems, this research examines how the business context and entrepreneurial alertness influence the relationship between human capital and social entrepreneurship. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of 84,340 observations from 32 countries, this research applies multilevel empirical models to analyse entrepreneurial ecosystems across different countries and the role of individuals’ alertness to entrepreneurial opportunities as moderators of the aforementioned relationship. This approach accounts for the multilayered nature of the context into account. Findings The results reveal that for individuals with higher alertness to opportunities, human capital has a stronger positive impact as a driver of social entrepreneurship. This effect is further shaped by the macro-level ecosystems associated with national entrepreneurial environments. Practical implications This research provides insight for governments to facilitate social entrepreneurial activities. Human capital acts as a fundamental condition of social entrepreneurial activities. However, focusing only on micro-level antecedents does not fully explain the dependence of social entrepreneurial entry decisions on macro-level environments in which this decision-making takes place. Originality/value This research is the first attempt to examine a multilayered context influencing social entrepreneurship entry. It contributes to emerging research by integrating individual and contextual antecedents while demonstrating how country-level entrepreneurial ecosystems establish boundary conditions for these relationships.