Sustainable Entrepreneurship in the Western Balkan Countries: Key Constraints

  1. Aleksandra Andjelković
  2. Vesna Janković Milić
  3. Marija Radosavljević
  4. Saša Petković
  5. Ditjona Kule
  6. Stojan Debarliev

Reviewed by

Read the full article See related articles

Discuss this preprint

Start a discussion What are Sciety discussions?

Listed in

Log in to save this article

Abstract

Public concern about environmental issues has led to growing interest in sustainability across various sectors, including entrepreneurship. However, beyond the concern for environmental protection and the preservation of natural resources for future generations, additional conditions are necessary to foster the development of sustainable entrepreneurship. While developed countries provide examples and evidence of the successful implementation of this concept, its application in developing countries presents challenges due to a range of limiting factors. In addition to essential financial support, the literature often highlights the lack and/or complexity of sustainability reporting, the absence of standards and clearly defined sustainability metrics, insufficient regulation, and the lack of support from higher education institutions as barriers to the transition toward sustainable entrepreneurship. This paper aims to examine the feasibility of applying the concept of sustainable entrepreneurship in Western Balkan countries, taking into account the aforementioned constraints. For the purpose of the empirical research, potential limitations were evaluated by managers and business owners in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Serbia. The results of the study answer the question of whether developing countries have the potential to foster sustainable entrepreneurship, given the analyzed constraints, or whether the implementation of this concept is reserved solely for large enterprises and economically advanced countries.

Article activity feed

  1. PREreview

    This Zenodo record is a permanently preserved version of a Structured PREreview. You can view the complete PREreview at https://prereview.org/reviews/17180078.

    Does the introduction explain the objective of the research presented in the preprint? Partly
    Are the methods well-suited for this research? Somewhat appropriate
    Are the conclusions supported by the data? Highly supported
    Are the data presentations, including visualizations, well-suited to represent the data? Highly appropriate and clear
    How clearly do the authors discuss, explain, and interpret their findings and potential next steps for the research? Very clearly
    Is the preprint likely to advance academic knowledge? Highly likely
    Would it benefit from language editing? No
    Would you recommend this preprint to others? Yes, it's of high quality
    Is it ready for attention from an editor, publisher or broader audience? Yes, after minor changes

    Competing interests

    The author declares that they have no competing interests.

  2. Version published to 10.20944/preprints202509.1385.v1