Small and medium-sized startups play a crucial role in a country's sustainable development. SMEs are at an early development stage, which means weaker institutional norms and successful paradigms, tending to suffer from exceptionally high failure rates because of many constraints, including a lack of resources and credit to access the core information. The higher the environmental uncertainty, the more likely that new start-ups rely on all kinds of social links for acquiring resources. As a critical ability to withstand and overcome obstacles, entrepreneurial resilience is an essential personal characteristic to ensure the sustainability of new ventures. The purpose of this study is to investigate the internal mechanism through which SME entrepreneurs' social capital affects entrepreneurial resilience. To reveal the internal mechanism, we propose a moderated and mediation model. Using survey data from SEM entrepreneurs in China, hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping model are adapted to test and verify mediation and moderation effects. The results show that social capital indeed positively influences entrepreneurial resilience directly and partly through the mediating effect of harmonious entrepreneurial passion and obsessive entrepreneurial passion. Moreover, findings suggest golden-mean thinking negatively moderates the relationship between obsessive entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial resilience yet positively moderates the relationship between social capital and entrepreneurial resilience. Based on these findings, we conclude that entrepreneurial resilience may be achieved more effectively through the complex internal process of social capital, entrepreneurial passion, and golden-mean thinking. Finally, the study proposes the theoretical and practical implications and suggestions for follow-up research.

As a new engine to promote high-quality development and a sustainable economy, the digital economy (DE) plays a key role in achieving carbon reduction targets. In this paper, we use the “broadband China (BC)” policy as a proxy variable for the DE and employ the panel data of Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2006 to 2019 to investigate the effect of DE development on carbon emission intensity and its mechanism of action. It is found that (1) DE development significantly reduces the carbon emissions of cities and presents dynamic and sustainable characteristics; (2) the results of mechanism tests indicate that DE development is more inclined to reduce carbon emission intensity by improving regional innovation quality than by improving regional innovation quantity; (3) the impact of DE development on carbon emission intensity differs among cities with different characteristic attributes and different environmental regulation intensity, and the emission reduction effect is more obvious in non-resource-based cities, cities with lower environmental regulation intensity, and cities with weaker environmental target constraints; (4) the impact of DE development and innovation-driven development strategies on reducing carbon emission intensity has a policy linkage effect.

Driven by economic and social benefits, social enterprises create new development models that combine wealth creation, social welfare provision, and environmental improvement through innovative approaches. The social entrepreneurship orientation reflects the behavioral tendency to transplant entrepreneurship orientation into the field of social value creation. It is a strategy to balance and integrate economic interests and social interests, which has a significant impact on social entrepreneurship performance. The purpose of this study is to explore the internal mechanism of the impact of social entrepreneurs’ mindfulness upbringing perception on social entrepreneur orientation. To reveal the internal mechanism, we propose a moderated and mediation model of prosocial motivation and perceived pressure from external stakeholders. In this study, random sampling was conducted among social start-ups in China. In order to improve the accuracy of the scale, a pre-survey was conducted before the formal survey. The data analysis results of the pre-survey showed that the scale in this study was suitable for the Chinese context and had good external validity. Through using survey data from social entrepreneurs in China, hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping model are adapted to test and verify mediation and moderation effects. The results show that mindfulness upbringing perception indeed positively influences social entrepreneurship orientation directly and partly through the mediating effect of prosocial motivation. Moreover, findings suggest the perceived pressure from external stakeholders negatively moderates not only the relationship between prosocial motivation and social entrepreneurship orientation but also the overall mediation model. This indicates that social entrepreneurs with low perceived pressure from external stakeholders will improve their social entrepreneurship orientation rapidly when their prosocial level is high. Based on these findings, we conclude that social entrepreneurship orientation may be achieved more effectively through the complex process of mindfulness upbringing perception, prosocial motivation, and perceived pressure from external stakeholders. Finally, the study proposes the theoretical and practical implications and suggestions for follow-up research.