Frank Van Rijnsoever

• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at Utrecht University

Sustainable development startups (SDSs) are important to help overcome societal challenges. However, starting an SDS or investing in them is a high-risk endeavor. Hence, policymakers are trying to make entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) more favorable for SDSs. A critical component of any EE is a financial support network, through which startups rece...

Although many studies have been conducted on the drivers of and barriers to research collaborations, current literature provides limited insights into the ways in which individual researchers choose to engage in different collaborative projects. Using a choice experiment, we studied the factors that drive this choice using a representative sample o...

According to the resource-based view, for start-ups to gain a sustainable competitive advantage their resources should be valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable (VRIN). However, early-stage entrepreneurs often do not have the capability to properly value resources. Incubators are popular tools for supporting early-stage entrepreneurs. Ma...

While it is well known where the best entrepreneurial ecosystems can be found in general, such information is missing in the case of sustainability entrepreneurial ecosystems. These are entrepreneurial ecosystems with high shares of startups that are active in industries which address the Sustainable Development Goals through innovation. Not knowin...

Understanding socio-technical transitions, let alone managing them, is complicated. This is especially the case for many practitioners, who are commonly not well-versed in the language of transition studies but deal with transition problems on a daily basis. To make the academic knowledge on socio-technical transitions available to practitioners, w...

Sustainable start‐ups introduce new sustainable technologies and business models that facilitate the transition to a carbon neutral economy. To understand how to create viable sustainable start‐ups, we study what factors predict their business performance and climate performance (i.e., the ability of the start‐up to reduce CO2 equivalent [CO2e] emi...

The rapidly growing and diversifying incubator population has led to increasing efforts to understand why entrepreneurs prefer one incubator over another. Scientific studies suggest that entrepreneurs should prefer incubators that provide startups with intangible resources, such as business knowledge or networks to enhance performance. Yet, studies...

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed by the United Nations are a call to action for policy-makers around the globe to tackle grand societal challenges. Sustainability start-ups can help meet some of the most pressing challenges. Regions of start-up activity are commonly referred to as entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs), although the share...

To promote economic growth and overcome societal challenges, policy-makers often try to shape an entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) that will facilitate technological entrepreneurship. An EE consists of a knowledge subsystem and a business subsystem, which are often unconnected. A financial support network (FSN) consisting of startups and private ventu...

Despite the continued efforts of policy makers, Western European start-ups are still struggling. Further, as questions are being raised about the effectiveness of incubators, there is a growing call for incubators around the world to learn from each other and improve themselves. Our paper enables Western European incubators to learn from their fore...

The scholarly literature has so far paid limited attention to responsibility by commercial entrepreneurs. This paper compares responsible entrepreneurship (RE) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) scholarship in order to identify future fields of research. For this purpose, we assess the strengths and weaknesses of extant RE scholarship throug...

A firm's choice to practice corporate social responsibility (CSR) is commonly explained using insights from institutional theory or stakeholder management. However, we do not know how important external pressures are at the executive level and individual manager level in a firm's choice to engage in particular CSR activities. Nor do we know how imp...

This paper explores the concept of university–start-up interaction (USUI) as a source of knowledge spillover and innovation. In doing so, we bring together literature on three broad mechanisms that enable knowledge utilization: education, new venture support, and university–industry interaction (UII), as we argue that USUI is a process in which all...

Nanotechnology is an emerging and promising field of research. Creating sufficient technological diversity among its alternatives is important for the long-term success of nanotechnologies, as well as for other emerging technologies. Diversity prevents early lock-in, facilitates recombinant innovation, increases resilience, and allows market growth...

The literature on socio-technical transitions pays increasing attention to the role of incumbent firms during transitions. These firms have been found to variably further, delay, or to ignore transitions towards a more sustainable society. Yet, it remains unclear which factors cause incumbents to display different modes of behavior during transitio...

I explore the sample size in qualitative research that is required to reach theoretical saturation. I conceptualize a population as consisting of sub-populations that contain different types of information sources that hold a number of codes. Theoretical saturation is reached after all the codes in the population have been observed once in the samp...

Technical details. Mathematical details of the simulation. (DOCX)

R-code for the simulations. Code for the simulations in R. (R)

Simulated data. The simulated data set used for this study. (CSV)

The development of start-up communities is seen as critical to the successful development of entrepreneurship in a region. However, it remains unclear what exactly start-up communities are and how they can be facilitated. Ambiguity concerning the geographical scale and membership of start-up communities leads to different conceptualisations. In thi...

Incubators are increasingly used to support the development of technology-based nascent entrepreneurs and typically provide a range of services and resources. In providing such support, incubators use a variety of practices such as peer-to-peer learning, workshops, mentoring and access to wider expert support network. This chapter explores the prac...

Incubators are a prominent way to support technology based start-ups. Yet, it remains unclear to what extent these incubators enhance start-up performance, nor is it known through which mechanisms this would occur. In this paper we test two mechanisms to explain the relationship between incubation and the amount of investments raised by early stage...

The literature on how network-based incubation influences the performance of technology-based start-ups has recently grown considerably and provided valuable insights. However, at the same time this literature has become quite fragmented, inconsistently conceptualised, and theoretically underdeveloped. Therefore, this article uses three management...

When engaging in an innovation project, small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) can choose to engage in three different strategies: make, buy and ally (MBA). As collaborating firms are seen as more innovative, policy makers actively promote the ally strategy using various measures. However, when SMEs choose to engage in a particular MBA strategy...

A possible explanation for the disappointing performance of incubators is that start-ups do not take full advantage of the resources offered by the incubator. In explaining the low usage of the incubator’s resources, existing studies neglect that incubated entrepreneurs may not be aware of the gaps in their resource base. Using qualitative data fro...

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a promising technology for reducing carbon emissions, but the public is often reluctant to support it. To understand why public support is lacking, it is crucial to establish what citizens think about the arguments that are used by proponents and opponents of CCS. We determined the persuasiveness, importance and...

In this age of information, firms are losing control of their image. Perhaps this is one reason that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a buzzword among packaged food industry leaders – firms seem determined to show stakeholders that they have values and behave responsibly, and are driven by more than the prospect of financial gain. T...

I explore the sample size in qualitative research that is required to reach theoretical saturation. I conceptualize a population as consisting of sub-populations that contain different types of information sources that hold a number of codes. Theoretical saturation is reached after all the codes in the population have been observed once in the samp...

The present study investigates acceptance of intervention strategies for low-calorie snack choices that vary regarding the effect they have on consumers' freedom of choice (providing information, guiding choice through (dis)incentives, and restricting choice). We examine the mediating effects of perceived effectiveness and perceived fairness, and t...

As participation by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in European collaboration research programs is less than has been striven for, this study investigates the motives of R&D-based SMEs for (non)participation in these programs. Based on the resource-based view, we formulate a set of hypotheses about incentives and barriers that influence t...

Employing Rothschild's Motivation-Opportunity-Ability framework, the present study examines the extent to which heterogeneity in barriers regarding the motivation, the perceived opportunity and the perceived ability to choose low-calorie over high-calorie snacks is associated with the proportion of low-calorie snack choices in real life. Furthermor...

Following the Behavioral Theory of the Firm, we conceive of firms’ strategic decisions as a function of performance feedback. We argue that firms are prone to adjust production, R&D investments and sales prices when substantially under- or over-performing their aspirations. We further enquire the influence of respondent characteristics, competitive...

This article qualitatively identifies and explains the barriers that foreign cleantech start-ups can encounter when attempting to enter the Chinese market, as well as the possible strategies that can help overcome these barriers. We base our analysis on interviews with Chinese and foreign entrepreneurs and facilitators. To structure the analysis of...

Despite the continued efforts of policy makers, the Western European entrepreneurial ecosystem is still struggling. Further, as questions are being raised about the effectiveness of Western European incubators, there is a growing call for incubators around the world to learn from each other and improve themselves. Our paper enables Western European...

Public acceptance is crucial for successful implementation of energy technologies in society. However, studies that use the concept do so in diverse and often inconsistent ways. They also often limit themselves to specific technologies and do not account for the effects of labeling, time, and the heterogeneity of the general public, which may lead...

In the packaged food industry, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an informal requirement for which firms account through sustainability reporting. CSR behaviors are often reported and analyzed using the Triple Bottom Line (3BL) framework, which categorizes them as affecting people, planet, or profit. 3BL is useful in determining which of the...

Technological diversity is important to achieve long-term technological progress as diversity fosters recombinant innovation and renders undesirable lock-ins less likely. Many government policies influence the diversity of a technology, in particular by subsidizing collaborative innovation projects. This study investigates the influence of network...

The aim of this paper is to empirically examine the influence of credibility on the likelihood to grant consortia of collaborating actors an innovation subsidy. Theorizing from the viewpoint of resource dependence theory and the sociology of expectations, we hypothesize that four types of credibility of influence: scientific credibility, market cre...

Although the number of incubators, accelerators, co-working spaces and science parks is rapidly increasing around the world, little academic attention has been paid to the start-up communities that these initiatives create. This paper responds to recently made calls for in-depth research into this growing phenomenon, by qualitatively studying the b...

Public preferences play an important role in the debate about which technologies to include in a future energy system. However, these public preferences for specific technologies are often backed by little knowledge and they may change in different contexts. In this study, we identify a compact set of main attributes for energy technologies (and th...

The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity poses a major threat to public health. Intervention strategies for healthy food choices potentially reduce obesity rates. Reviews of the effectiveness of interventions, however, show mixed results. To maximise effectiveness, interventions need to be accepted by consumers. The aim of the present st...

University-affiliated incubators have been recognized for their potential to turn cutting-edge scientific knowledge into successful new businesses. However, the processes through which resources are transferred to the incubator remain underexposed in scientific literature. Using qualitative data from six European incubators, we explore the question...

Using a choice model, we estimate the preferences for alternative fuel vehicles by Dutch local governments. The analysis shows that local governments are willing to pay between 25% and 50% extra for an alternative fuel vehicle without a serious loss of utility. Further, local emissions are an important criterion on which to base a decision, especia...

We build and empirically test a model that predicts the display of innovative behavior as a function of environmental change, with recent experience and economic status acting as moderators. We start with the model developed by Slevin (1971), which evolved from the so-called innovation boundary. This is the threshold beyond which the display of inn...

Luk Van Langenhove argues that the social sciences should be made more relevant (Nature 484, 442; 2012). But the problem is rather that society remains largely unaware of the thousands of social-science studies produced every year that are relevant to global challenges such as climate change. Efforts should focus on increasing the societal use of s...

This study investigates the relationship between involvement and use of multiple information sources in the case of pre-purchase information search for automobiles. We consider the moderating role played by the sequence in which information sources are consulted. We explore our theoretical framework on a sample of 1261 Dutch consumers using a combi...

Early adopters play an important role in the innovation diffusion process. Over the past decades, many factors have been identified as predictors for early adoption of innovations. Less attention has been paid to the relationship between the early adoption of one generation of a specific product and the early adoption of successive product generati...

Since the 1980s, the number of obese people has increased steadily across the globe.1 Consequently, more patients have serious medical conditions2 3 such as cardiovascular diseases and type II diabetes. As a result, medical expenses increase dramatically. An important cause of obesity is unhealthy dietary habits, such as increased size of portions,...

Consumer categorizations based on innovativeness were originally proposed by E.M. Rogers (2003) and remain of relevance for predicting purchasing behavior in high-tech domains such as consumer electronics. We extend such innovativeness-based categorizations in two directions: We first take into account the existence of technology clusters within pr...

In discussing strategies to combat cardiovascular disease worldwide, Sonia Anand and Salim Yusuf (Feb 12, p 529)1 rightly point to the complex socioeconomic interactions that need to be considered when promoting healthy food consumption. However, details of these interactions are left implicit. Two important issues that must be dealt with in any st...

There is a lack of understanding regarding the optimal conditions for interdisciplinary research. This study investigates what characteristics of researchers are associated with disciplinary and interdisciplinary research collaborations and what collaborations are most rewarding in different scientific disciplines. Our results confirm that female s...

This paper studies the role and effects of user-producer interaction (UPI) in the production of Web sites. The results of two empirical studies, one from a producer perspective and one from a user perspective, are presented. It is concluded that using UPI in the development of informative Web sites for a large public is a risky process, because it...

As bounded rational agents, consumers face many uncertainties during the process of innovation adoption. The consumers that face most uncertainties are the ones that first adopt new products. These so-called ‘innovators’ are important for the innovation diffusion process. They take the risks for others by adopting early, they partly test the produc...

In many studies on innovation diffusion, five attributes of innovations by Rogers [Rogers, E.M., 2003. Diffusion of Innovations. Free Press, New York] are used to explain the adoption of innovations. These five attributes (relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability) are related to each other. This paper develops a...

In this paper, we measure the relations between stated and revealed car preferences and the use of information sources in the car-purchasing process, based on a survey of households in the Netherlands. The analysis showed that attitudinal and behavioral constructs are found for ‘environmental’, ‘performance’, and ‘convenience’ preferences, but that...

In this article, we look at the personality characteristic global innovativeness as a predictor for the adoption of consumer electronics; the latter being termed actualized innovativeness. Global innovativeness is tested as a predictor for three levels of actualized innovativeness: at the domain-specific, cluster-specific, and product-specific leve...

We contribute to the understanding of how technologies may be perceived to be part of technology clusters. The value added of the paper is both at a theoretical and empirical level. We add to the theoretical understanding of technology clusters by distinguishing between clusters in perceptions and clusters in ownership and by proposing a mechanism...

This paper presents a model predicting whether a consumer will be an early adopter of a new generation of video players. Predictors are ownership and adoption times of previous product generations. The model is specified as a logistic regression model and is fitted using survey data on home entertainment products collected from an online panel. The...

In this study we investigate the relationship between involvement and use of multiple search channels in the case of pre-purchase information search for automobiles. We derive theoretical hypotheses by combining arguments from both an economic or cost/benefit approach and a motivational perspective. Our theoretical framework is tested on a sample o...

This study proposes and tests a number of hypotheses about opinion leaders in the domain of consumer electronics and their use of external search channels. Based on the results of a survey among 1872 consumers, opinion leaders in the domain of consumer electronics are found to most likely be young working males without children. The use of differen...

Innovation is a process that involves searching for new information. This paper builds upon theoretical insights on individual and organizational learning and proposes a knowledge based model of how actors search for information when confronted with innovation. The model takes into account different search channels, both local and non local, and re...

The high value of collaboration among scientists and of interactions of university researchers with industry is generally acknowledged. In this study we explain the use of different knowledge networks at the individual level from a resource-based perspective. This involves viewing networks as a resource that offers competitive advantages to an indi...

Innovation is a process that involves searching for new information. This paper builds upon theoretical insights on individual and organizational learning and proposes a knowledge based model of how actors search for information when confronted with innovation. The model takes explicitly into account different search channels, both local and non lo...

We contribute to the understanding of how technologies may be perceived to be part of technology clusters. The value added of the paper is twofold. First, we add to the theoretical understanding of technology clusters by distinguishing between clusters in perceptions and clusters in ownership and by proposing a mechanism to explain the existence of...

Session: The role of demand and the greening of con sumption Abstract There's a high awareness in society about negative environmental impacts of auto mobility. However, this does not directly translate into the purchase of environmentally friendly cars. In this paper, we measure the relations between (state d and revealed) car preferences and the...