Purpose This study aims to examine how owner-managers’ entrepreneurial leadership influences employee pro-environmental behaviour, considering the moderating role of stakeholder pressure and the mediating role of green self-efficacy. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 423 owner-managers and employees of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Findings The results show entrepreneurial leadership has a positive effect on employee pro-environmental behaviour. However, stakeholder pressure did not strengthen the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and employee pro-environmental behaviour. Employee green self-efficacy positively influences pro-environmental behaviour and partially mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and employee pro-environmental behaviour. Practical implications SME owner-managers should empower employees, support sustainability initiatives and encourage innovative problem-solving to enhance green self-efficacy. Elevated green self-efficacy strengthens employees’ intrinsic motivation to voluntarily engage in sustainable practices, even in the absence of formal policies or strict regulatory enforcement. Policy interventions should therefore emphasize entrepreneurial leadership development and employee empowerment initiatives, which can effectively complement traditional regulatory approaches to sustainability. Originality/value By identifying green self-efficacy as a key employee-level psychological mechanism and stakeholder pressure as an important contextual boundary condition, this study advances understanding of pro-environmental behaviour within sustainable entrepreneurship. Drawing on evidence from SMEs in Ghana, an underexplored developing economy context, it extends traditional leadership-driven perspectives by explaining how environmental sustainability can be fostered under structural constraints.
Moses Ahomka Yeboah (2026) studied this question.