Free Enterprise and Sustainable Innovation

Free enterprise can drive innovation in sustainability by leveraging its inherent characteristics such as competition, profit motive, and consumer choice.

In a free market, companies are motivated to differentiate themselves from competitors. This can lead to innovation in sustainable products and services as businesses strive to meet growing consumer demand for eco-friendly options. The pursuit of profit encourages businesses to find cost-effective and efficient ways to operate, often leading to sustainable practices that reduce waste and resource consumption. As consumers increasingly prioritize sustainability, businesses are incentivized to innovate and offer products that align with these values. This has led to the development of innovations such as biodegradable packaging, renewable energy solutions, and sustainable fashion, among others.

By aligning sustainability with core business objectives, companies are able to innovate, reduce risks, and capture new market opportunities. In this workshop we will discuss these innovations as well as use the Fowler Center's AIM2Flourish databank of business innovation stories to examine some exemplar innovations driven by free markets.

This program is presented as part of Burton D. Morgan Foundation’s 2025 Speaker Series on Free Enterprise.

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The Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit

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