TY - JOUR
T1 - What about the entrepreneur? How static business models drive and hinder the development of self-sustaining local energy access ventures
AU - Wakkee, Ingrid
AU - Barua, Rahul
AU - Van Beukering, Pieter
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 World Scientific Publishing Company.
PY - 2014/9/25
Y1 - 2014/9/25
N2 - The central assumption of publicly-supported market development programs is that providing resources to local entrepreneurs and strengthening the business environments fosters the emergence of self-sustaining local energy access ventures. We explore this assumption by applying a business model lens to analyze how participation in a market development program affects the development of local energy access ventures. Using the domestic biogas market development program in Rwanda as our case, we evaluate program design, the role of local entrepreneurs and interactions between participating ventures and the coordinating office to determine how market development programs contribute to a self-sustaining private energy sector. While providing a detailed framework for local ventures, the business model offers entrepreneurs few possibilities to act entrepreneurial and exploit local opportunities. Consequently, such programs will attract necessity-driven rather than opportunity-and growth-driven entrepreneurs, causing concern for the achievement of program objectives and the establishment of a self-sustaining private sector.
AB - The central assumption of publicly-supported market development programs is that providing resources to local entrepreneurs and strengthening the business environments fosters the emergence of self-sustaining local energy access ventures. We explore this assumption by applying a business model lens to analyze how participation in a market development program affects the development of local energy access ventures. Using the domestic biogas market development program in Rwanda as our case, we evaluate program design, the role of local entrepreneurs and interactions between participating ventures and the coordinating office to determine how market development programs contribute to a self-sustaining private energy sector. While providing a detailed framework for local ventures, the business model offers entrepreneurs few possibilities to act entrepreneurial and exploit local opportunities. Consequently, such programs will attract necessity-driven rather than opportunity-and growth-driven entrepreneurs, causing concern for the achievement of program objectives and the establishment of a self-sustaining private sector.
KW - bio-gas
KW - Business model
KW - public-private-partnership
KW - rural energy access
KW - social entrepreneurship
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84928386295&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1142/S1084946714500149
DO - 10.1142/S1084946714500149
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84928386295
VL - 19
JO - Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship
JF - Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship
SN - 1084-9467
IS - 3
M1 - 1450014
ER -