Giulia Galera

Social enterprise: An international overview of its conceptual evolution and legal implementation

– The purpose of this paper is to analyze the evolution of the social enterprise concept at an international level. It provides a comprehensive overview of the existing literature in this subject area and focuses on the legal implementation of social enterprises., – The paper is an analytic review, building on previous work. Conclusions are on how the social enterprise concept has been legally implemented in a number of representative European countries., – The lack of a common understanding of social enterprise should not be regarded as a limitation as such debate encourages a rethinking of the theoretical definition of enterprise and its legal structure. The legal recognition of social enterprise contributes to conceptual clarification in the countries concerned., – This is a conceptual discussion paper, which stimulates further research on the most interesting mechanisms and consistent models of social enterprise that are developing at an international level., – The paper synthesises existing conceptual studies on social enterprise. It contributes to enrich the current debate on social enterprise and aids in focusing future research.

The Concept and Practice of Social Enterprise. Lessons from the Italian Experience

Abstract: Social enterprises are increasingly regarded as successful mechanisms for reconciling equity and efficiency with the creation of economic and social value, and they can be interpreted as concrete expressions of a growing sense of social responsibility on the part of citizens. Research conducted in various geographical contexts corroborates that social enterprises are a structural trend, which cuts across countries with diverse characteristics. Following a historical contextualization of the social enterprise, the article focuses on a conceptual analysis. Next, attention is paid to the diffusion of social enterprises in the enlarged Europe, including countries where social enterprises have been acknowledged; countries where social enterprises are increasingly regarded as a unique way whereby unmet needs can be addressed; and countries where social enterprise-like initiatives happen to emerge despite the predominance of unfavourable conditions. Finally, attention is paid to social enterprises in Italy and specifically to the key factors explaining their success.

Interpreting social enterprises

A variedade de instituicoes e organizacoes existentes crescentemente caracteriza os sistemas economicos avancados. Ao passo que as teorias economicas tradicionais enfocavam quase que exclusivamente organizacoes maximizadoras de lucros (ou seja, empresas geradoras de lucro) e organizacoes governamentais, a crescente relevância das organizacoes sem fins lucrativos e particularmente das organizacoes sociais exige dos pesquisadores reflexoes sobre uma nova abordagem economica ampla, capaz de explicar tal variedade organizacional. Neste artigo, examinam-se as principais limitacoes das teorias ortodoxas e institucionais e reafirma-se a necessidade de criar e testar um novo arcabouco teorico, que leve em conta as formas variadas empregadas por organizacoes diversas na perseguicao de seus objetivos, as variadas motivacoes que impelem os atores e as organizacoes, e os diferentes padroes de aprendizagem e rotinas dentro das organizacoes. O novo arcabouco analitico aqui proposto baseia-se em desenvolvimentos recentes, principalmente evolutivos e comportamentais, das teorias da empresa. Esta passa a ser interpretada como um mecanismo de coordenacao da atividade economica cujos objetivos nao coincidem forcosamente com a maximizacao de lucros. Ao contrario, os agentes economicos sao hoje movidos por uma complexidade de motivacoes e uma vontade intrinseca e nao monetaria de manter um papel crucial na formacao das atividades da firma, acima e alem de objetivos puramente monetarios ou financeiros. Acredita-se que o novo arcabouco seja particularmente apropriado para a correta interpretacao da emergencia e do papel de formas organizacionais e de propriedade nao tradicionais, as quais nao sao movidas pela busca de lucros (organizacoes sem fins lucrativos), sendo reconhecidas principalmente nos formatos legais das cooperativas, Organizacoes Nao Governamentais (ONGs) e empresas sociais. Uma gama continua de formas organizacionais, que vao desde atividades geradoras de lucro ate atividades voltadas ao bem publico, e que englobam organizacoes de beneficio mutuo como seu principal constituinte, sao aqui consideradas e discutidas.La variedad de instituciones y organizaciones caracteriza, cada vez mas, sistemas economicos avanzados. Al paso que las teorias economicas tradicionales enfocaban casi exclusivamente organizaciones maximizadoras de lucros (o sea, empresas generadoras de lucro) y organizaciones gubernamentales, la creciente relevancia de las organizaciones sin fines lucrativos y particularmente de las organizaciones sociales exige de los cientificos reflexiones sobre un nuevo abordaje economico amplio, capaz de explicar tal variedad organizacional. Este articulo examina las principales limitaciones de las teorias ortodoxas e institucionales y reafirma la necesidad de crear y probar un nuevo marco teorico, que tome en cuenta las formas variadas empleadas por las diversas organizaciones en la persecucion de sus objetivos, las variadas motivaciones que impelen a los atores y a las organizaciones, y los diferentes estandares de aprendizaje y rutinas dentro de las organizaciones. El nuevo marco analitico aqui propuesto se basa en desarrollos recientes, principalmente evolutivos y comportamentales, en la teorias de la empresa, que pasa a ser interpretada como un mecanismo de coordinacion de la actividad economica cuyos objetivos no coinciden forzosamente con la maximizacion de lucros. Al contrario, los agentes economicos son movidos por una complejidad de motivaciones y una voluntad intrinseca y no monetaria de desempenar un papel crucial en la formacion de las actividades de la empresa que transcienden los objetivos puramente monetarios o financieros. Se considera que el nuevo marco sea particularmente apropiado para la correcta interpretacion del surgimiento y del papel de formas organizacionales y de propiedad no tradicionales, que no son movidas por la busca de lucros (organizaciones sin fines lucrativos) y que son reconocidas principalmente en los formatos legales de las cooperativas, ONG y empresas sociales. Este articulo considera y discute una gama de formas organizacionales que van desde actividades generadoras de lucro hasta actividades dirigidas al bien publico y que engloban organizaciones de beneficio mutuo como su principal constituyente.

Europe in Transition: The Role of Social Cooperatives and Social Enterprises

The European social model has always been characterized by the active role played in the production of goods and services by a variety of organizations that differ both from private corporations and public institutions. These are private organizations that, while active on the market, typically pursue goals other than profit: their main purpose is not to generate financial gains for their owners or stakeholders but to provide goods and services either to their members or to the community at large. Traditionally, these organizations have been included in the concept of “social economy”. This paper describes the role of social enterprises and social cooperatives as a type of economic, non-profit organization that is assuming an increasingly central role in Europe (as shown for example by the Social Business Initiative, recently launched by the European Commission), by contributing to its economic and social growth. More generally, the paper intends to reflect on the economic and social impacts of social enterprises and social cooperatives in local economies, while some final remarks conclude by identifying some lessons supplied by Italian social cooperatives on a broader scale.

New trends in the nonprofit sector in Europe: the emergence of social enterprises

Abstract This article has two objectives: to clarify the organizational and managerial differences between social entrepreneurship and social enterprises and to investigate the role of social enterprises and their impacts on the welfare systems of European countries. The authors describe social entrepreneurship as a trend across all forms of enterprises and social enterprise as the institutionalization of a new typology that is distinguished by specific features from its inception. By relying on a theoretical analysis, the article supports the interpretation of social enterprise as an innovative institutional tool that can have a role in supporting growth and welfare. The essential features of social enterprise, which justify their competitiveness vis-a-vis public and for-profit organizations in the production and delivery of general-interest services, are thoroughly investigated. The article sheds light on the contribution of social enterprises to reforming and democratizing the traditional European welfare systems, which – since the 1980s – have revealed their inability to distribute welfare services inclusively and cope with the growing phenomena of poverty and inequalities.

Innovating the provision of welfare services through collective action: the case of Italian social cooperatives

ABSTRACT Social cooperatives are the most widespread social enterprise type in Italy. Their evolution has stimulated the development of diverse interpretative frameworks of social enterprise determinants: the mainstream one is that social cooperatives are the outcome of contracting out policies. Through a critical investigation of social cooperatives’ emergence, integration into public policies, and reaction to the financial crisis, the authors refocus attention to one of the key modes of creation of social enterprises that has not gained the attention it deserves: the bottom-up dynamic. The analysis carried out sheds light on the contribution of citizens’ mobilization to institutional change and confirms that social enterprises can also emerge in an unprepared and hostile ideological, economic and political context.

Social enterprise as a bottom-up dynamic: part 1. The reaction of civil society to unmet social needs in Italy, Sweden and Japan

ABSTRACT Over the past decades, social enterprises have been acknowledged as key welfare actors in several EU countries. In spite of the dramatic research devoted to exploring them, several issues concerning the definition, drivers and roles played by policies in sustaining social enterprise growth are still highly contested. Drawing on the papers published in this Monographic section, the introduction to this issue reconstructs the debate that has accompanied the emergence and development of social enterprises with a view to providing evidence of the advantages of collective participation for social enterprise emergence and growth. Next, the introduction pays attention to the factors that have led to the emergence and success of social enterprises as a form of self-organization of civil society; and briefly describes the papers included in this issue.

The ‘Re-Emergence’ of Social Enterprises in CEE and the CIS

This essay analyses the characteristics and the role of social enterprises in CEE and CIS countries. Following a brief introduction on the relevance of institutional pluralism for economies characterized by poorly developed markets and welfare systems under construction, the importance of social enterprise for those countries is emphasized. Starting from a definition of social enterprise grounded in the European tradition, and therefore considered more appropriate for these countries, focus then shifts on the history of both social entrepreneurial organizations and current social enterprise development paths in the region, with special regard to the role played by the social enterprise in fostering socio-economic development. Social enterprises are found to increase the supply of general goods and services for the community, generate new employment, contribute to a more balanced use and allocation of resources, and enhance the social capital at the local level.

Social Enterprise in Italy: Typology, Diffusion and Characteristics

Italian social enterprises are not a new topic in literature. Several aspects e.g. theoretical frameworks, quality of work and job satisfaction, networking strategies, and the impact of the recent financial crisis, have been studied from many different perspectives in the last twenty years. Most of these contributions focus in particular on social cooperatives, as the most representative legal form of social enterprise in Italy. Therefore, the idea that has been spreading in literature and among scholars is that social cooperatives are the only example of social enterprise existing in Italy. Conversely, in recent years, new forms of non-profit organizations, that were traditionally based on volunteer and donor support, have started to operate as social enterprises, employing people and running commercial activities. This article, which is one of a very few works that explore this topic, is intended to answer the following research questions: i?½How many different types of SEs are there in Italy?i?½; i?½How many SEs of each type are there?i?½; i?½In what ways and to what extent do they differ from each other?i?½.

Social enterprise as a bottom-up dynamic. Part 2: the reaction of civil society to unmet social needs in England, Scotland, Ireland, France and Romania

Over the past three decades, enterprises of a new kind, explicitly pursuing social aims, have emerged worldwide as new welfare actors (Borzaga et al. 2016). This evolution was boosted by the engagement of traditional non-profit organizations in the direct delivery of a wide spectrum of general interest services. These enterprises, commonly known as social enterprises, deliver mainly social, educational, and general or community interest services. No general consensus exists at the international level for the definition of what constitutes a social enterprise; however, intensive research by scholars and the intervention of several European legislatures has gradually resulted in a convergence of meanings that embodies the specificities of this new type of enterprise in laws. Despite the increasing number of scholars and governments that recognize the role and importance of social enterprises in solving many contemporary societal problems, the economic and social roles of social enterprises and the factors explaining both their upsurge and consolidation are still poorly understood. The widely believed idea is that social enterprises do not have features such to make them actors able to operate and develop in full autonomy (Christie and Honig 2006). Many researchers and policymakers have expressed the belief that the birth, and even more so the consolidation and scaling up of social enterprises, has been possible only because they have been incorporated into public policies and thus benefited from the related financing. An alternative explanation is that social enterprises have been promoted either by non-profit organizations as income-generating activities or by innovative entrepreneurs as a modernized form of philanthropic solidarity (Dees 1998, Yunus 2007, Laville et al. 2015). In essence, these views on social enterprises agree that they cannot emerge and develop spontaneously with a view to either address unsolved social problems or fill gaps in general interest service delivery. In one way or another, their existence must be externally driven. The failure to embrace a comprehensive approach that acknowledges the diverse modes of creation and the distinctive characteristics of social enterprises brings with it the risk of not fully understanding the phenomenon and adopting inconsistent regulations and erroneous support policies. In fact, if one follows these dominant interpretations, one almost inevitably comes to consider the collective and participatory dimension of social enterprises as not an advantage, but a cause of inefficiency. In fact, the non-profit nature