Social Entrepreneurship: Conceptual Insights and Research Priorities

Abstract

The concept of 'social entrepreneurship' has been rapidly emerging in the private, public and non-profit sectors over the last few years. Currently, the non-profit sector is facing intensifying demands for improved effectiveness and sustainability in light of diminishing funding from traditional sources and increased competition for these scarce resources. At the same time, the increasing concentration of wealth in the private sector is promoting calls for increased corporate social responsibility and more proactive responses to complex social problems, while governments at all levels are grappling with multiple demands on public funds. In light of this, social entrepreneurship is emerging as an innovative approach for dealing with complex social needs. With its emphasis on problem-solving and social innovation, socially entrepreneurial activities blur the traditional boundaries between the public, private and non-profit sector, and emphasize hybrid models of for-profit and non-profit activities. Promoting collaboration between sectors is implicit within social entrepreneurship, as is developing radical new approaches to solving old problems. Social entrepreneurship has a strong intuitive appeal, and several recently documented examples highlight its potential in a variety of contexts. However, this is still a very new area, and research on social entrepreneurship lags far behind the practice. This paper provides an overview on social entrepreneurship in the light of growing expectations and support for radically new and effective ways of dealing with pressing social problems. The paper begins with the examination of contextual factors influencing the emergence and development of social entrepreneurship. It further focuses on defining social entrepreneurship, and understanding the parameters of this rather broadly-used term. It then examines the characteristics and motivations of social entrepreneurs. The paper finally concludes by a discussion on some of the key issues emerging around social entrepreneurship, including support for social entrepreneurs, training and capacity building, implementation issues, and gaps in the existing research/opportunities for future research in this rapidly developing field.