Advancing Public Policy for High‐Growth, Female, and Social Entrepreneurs

The concept of social entrepreneurship emerged as a significant factor that contributes toward public welfare and prosperity. Recent studies showed that social entrepreneurship influences the economic growth and sustainability of the state. Therefore, the underlying aim of this study was to investigate the impact of social entrepreneurship on sustainable economic growth and value creation. This study also undertook to observe the mediating role of innovation in the relationship between social entrepreneurship and sustainable economic growth and between social entrepreneurship and value creation. A questionnaire technique was adopted to obtain data from 343 tour operators in China. The Smart-PLS software was used to analyze the data through the aid of a structural equation modelling (SEM) technique. The results revealed that social entrepreneurship has an effect on sustainable economic growth and value creation. The results also demonstrated that innovation has an effect on sustainable economic growth and value creation. Moreover, it was also observed that innovation mediated the relationship between social entrepreneurship and sustainable economic growth and between social entrepreneurship and value creation. Theoretically, this study made a valuable contribution by examining the impact of social entrepreneurship on sustainable economic growth and value creation and innovation as a mediator. In terms of practical implications, this study would certainly aid the policymakers to devise policies and strategies aim to encourage and promote social entrepreneurship. Moreover, future studies can introduce other mediating and moderating variables in order to gain a deeper insight into the phenomenon.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate what sort of people become social entrepreneurs, and in what way they differ from business entrepreneurs. More importantly, to investigate in what socio‐economic context entrepreneurial individuals are more likely to become social than business entrepreneurs. These questions are important for policy because there has been a shift from direct to indirect delivery of many public services in the UK, requiring a professional approach to social enterprise.Design/methodology/approachEvidence is presented from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) UK survey based upon a representative sample of around 21,000 adults aged between 16 and 64 years interviewed in 2009. The authors use logistic multivariate regression techniques to identify differences between business and social entrepreneurs in demographic characteristics, effort, aspiration, use of resources, industry choice, deprivation, and organisational structure.FindingsThe results show that the odds of an early‐stage entrepreneur being a social rather than a business entrepreneur are reduced if they are from an ethnic minority, if they work ten hours or more per week on the venture, and if they have a family business background; while they are increased if they have higher levels of education and if they are a settled in‐migrant to their area. While women social entrepreneurs are more likely than business entrepreneurs to be women, this is due to gender‐based differences in time commitment to the venture. In addition, the more deprived the community they live in, the more likely women entrepreneurs are to be social than business entrepreneurs. However, this does not hold in the most deprived areas where we argue civic society is weakest and therefore not conducive to support any form of entrepreneurial endeavour based on community engagement.Originality/valueThe paper's findings suggest that women may be motivated to become social entrepreneurs by a desire to improve the socio‐economic environment of the community in which they live and see social enterprise creation as an appropriate vehicle with which to address local problems.

PurposeWhile the topic of women's entrepreneurship continues to grow in academic appeal, the policy aspect is one that has received limited scholarly attention, especially in the context of developing countries. To address this gap in scholarship, the purpose of this paper aims to critically explore women's entrepreneurship policy in Tanzania. The research question asks: How are policies designed to encourage and support entrepreneurship in Tanzania gendered, and how might such policies be (re)designed so that they are more relevant to women entrepreneurs in the Tanzanian context? The authors contribute to extant scholarship by: drawing attention to the particular context for women's entrepreneurship in Tanzania; identifying gender biases inherent in current entrepreneurship policies; offering some recommendations for policymakers and identifying areas worthy of future research attention in this area.Design/methodology/approachThe study builds on the Global Women's Enterprise Policy project. The authors apply an adapted reading guide technique to analyse and critique relevant entrepreneurship policy documents in Tanzania. The reading guide examines the category and type of document being analysed, key themes, content, language and imagery, as well as the key policy recommendations being offered and their relevance to women's entrepreneurship in Tanzania and the wider sub-Saharan African region. Completed reading guide templates are then coded and collated into an excel spreadsheet. Findings are discussed and critiqued within a regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive framework.FindingsThe study provides rich and valuable insights into the unique context for women's entrepreneurship in Tanzania, shedding new light on how women's entrepreneurship is supported in a particular region of sub-Saharan Africa. Findings reveal that while current policy acknowledges the important role women play in their communities, especially in terms of their contribution to labour, it is geared more towards small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development than entrepreneurship; this is despite the fact that entrepreneurship is identified as a means to address sustainable development challenges (notably unemployment and poverty) and expand opportunities for socially disadvantaged groups, especially women. Existing policy is essentially “context neutral” and hence relatively ineffective; the gender focus is lacking and there is a failure to take account of the specific context in which Tanzanian women entrepreneurs have to operate. The authors argue for policies designed to support women's entrepreneurship to be formalised and contextualised in their specific geographical and cultural setting. The “institutional pillars” framework allows us to identify areas where contextualisation of women's entrepreneurship policies could be enhanced.Practical implicationsThe study implies that, to be effective, policies designed to support women's entrepreneurship need to be formalised and contextualised to their specific geographical and cultural setting. Some areas where this might be achieved are identified. Avenues for future research in this area are also suggested.Originality/valueThe value of the paper lies in its focus on Tanzania, and its critique of existing policies from a gender and institutional perspective. It also enhances understanding of the unique context in Tanzania for entrepreneurship.

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2015 to 2016: Special Topic Report on Social Entrepreneurship

Globally, women's entrepreneurship confronts multifaceted barriers that call for policymakers' attention. There is also a paucity of research on women's entrepreneurship policies in Ghana and South Africa, the focus of this study, which addresses two research questions. First, what kind of women's entrepreneurship policies exist in each of these two countries? Second, to what extent do the policies of each country address the normative, cultural-cognitive and regulatory institutional policy requirements? Drawing on the transformative research paradigm, we conducted content analysis of 25 purposively sampled policy instruments using an analytical framework developed from Scott's institutional policy framework. Our results reveal that, although both countries have normative, cultural-cognitive and regulatory women's entrepreneurship policies, Ghana's policy prescriptions are limited and fragmented while South Africa's policies are comprehensive and co-ordinated with other national policy and strategic documents. This study contributes to entrepreneurship research by applying institutional theory to the analysis of women's entrepreneurship policies in two African nations.

Social entrepreneurship is a cross-cutting competency. It draws on knowledge from various disciplines and personal experiences. Health, social sciences and humanities are usually technically sound but lack specific business knowledge and skills. Entrepreneurial education makes it possible to establish training environments where students join as ‘novices’, develop skills and undergo experiences that help them build capable profiles and prepare for their professional careers in today's economy. It is important to note that the development of skills for social entrepreneurship is increasingly demanded in all disciplinary fields. Interest from the academic, business and civil society in social innovation and social entrepreneurship is growing rapidly since social value creation and social innovation are considered vital to the social entrepreneurship phenomenon. The innovation process aims to fill the gap between working life and educational framework so that students can develop innovation capabilities they will need during their careers. Taking cognizance of the importance of social innovation and entrepreneurship, the Government of India formulated a policy for Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship in 2022. Our University established a first of its kind Social Innovation Lab (SinnoLAB) under a Collaborative European Union Project. Our University is one of the collaborating partners and the only health sciences university to set up a SinnoLAB in India. We discuss in this article how a SinnoLaB can be set up, its functions, need for such labs in medical institutes, its role in medical education and its beneficiaries and propose that other health sciences institutes can also take up social innovation and entrepreneurship considering the benefits to all stakeholders.

This chapter sets the scene for the edited collection of chapters in the book. It discusses the importance of entrepreneurship policy - especially in the context of women's entrepreneurship. The authors highlight the fact that entrepreneurship policy development is not without its challenges. Policy makers must differentiate between entrepreneurship and small business policies; appreciate that policy initiatives offered in isolation are likely to be ineffective; and realise that when it comes to developing women's entrepreneurship policy, 'one size does not fit all." The chapter also outlines the process adopted by the editors to invite contributions to the book and the associated reviewing and editing protocols. An overview of the chapters selected for the book is also provided. Based on the this, several recommendations for policy makers are offered. These relate to policy and programme evaluation; the development of a dedicated women's entrepreneurship policy; involvement of women in the design, management, delivery and evaluation of policies and programmes; and linking women's entrepreneurship policy to the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Based upon unique survey data collected using respondent driven sampling methods, we investigate whether there is a gender pay gap among social entrepreneurs in the UK. We find that women as social entrepreneurs earn 29% less than their male colleagues, above the average UK gender pay gap of 19%. We estimate the adjusted pay gap to be about 23% after controlling for a range of demographic, human capital and job characteristics, as well as personal preferences and values. These differences are hard to explain by discrimination since these CEOs set their own pay. Income may not be the only aim in an entrepreneurial career, so we also look at job satisfaction to proxy for non-monetary returns. We find female social entrepreneurs to be more satisfied with their job as a CEO of a social enterprise than their male counterparts. This result holds even when we control for the salary generated through the social enterprise. Our results extend research in labour economics on the gender pay gap as well as entrepreneurship research on women's entrepreneurship to the novel context of social enterprise. It provides the first evidence for a contented female social entrepreneur paradox.

Israeli women entrepreneurs: An examination of factors affecting performance

Women are taking the lead as change agents and innovators in the society. The participation of women in economic activities occupied a prominent place in the list of strategic priorities and national development plans in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Fostering the development of entrepreneurship sector in this country is one of the political agenda in empowering the women. Considering that the country has a very young population and a growing youth bulge a fact which leads itself well to the rise of women entrepreneurship. This paper highlights the status of social entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia to illuminate why and how its ventures are implemented. The research objective’s end view is to contribute towards the fostering of social entrepreneurship among Saudi women entrepreneurs to boost their confidence in performing the activities that create difference towards progressive development of the socio-economic frames of the country. The study focused on the social entrepreneurship activities prioritized, challenges faced by women social entrepreneurs and strategic measures recommended towards sustainable social entrepreneurship in the Kingdom. The study found out that the basic issue prioritized by social entrepreneurs was training and development; the areas of challenges met were financing, regulatory frameworks and technical support. The strategic measures recommended towards fostering social entrepreneurship in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were focused on access to funding, entrepreneurship culture, tax and regulation, education and training and coordinated support.

Global experiences of post-war and post-conflict recovery and reconstruction show that preparations for the post-war period should begin even before the conflict ends. For Ukraine's post-war recovery, promoting social entrepreneurship and implementing social innovations is crucial. These efforts will foster practical cooperation between the state, businesses, and the public, addressing various challenges collectively, solving socio-economic problems, and implementing reforms. The purpose of this article is to study the essence and evolution of knowledge about constructs and concepts in the fields of social innovation and social entrepreneurship, to substantiate the opportunities for the dissemination of social innovations, and to create conditions for social entrepreneurship in addressing social needs in the context of Ukraine's post-war recovery. Given its fragmented conceptualisation and widespread use by scholars, policymakers, and practitioners, this study is driven by the need for a theoretical justification of social innovation and entrepreneurship. Methods: To achieve this goal and solve specific tasks, empirical and theoretical research methods were used: analysis, synthesis, and generalisation. These methods, applied at a dialectical level, provide a scientific basis for theoretical and methodological approaches to introducing social innovations in public life. With the help of multidisciplinary ontological analysis and the use of bibliometric indicators, such as citations, co-citations, bibliometric links and coincidences, the main research trends in the knowledge clusters of social innovation and social entrepreneurship were identified. This was accomplished through system mapping with the VOSviewer tool and the analysis and synthesis of publications on social innovation and social entrepreneurship for deep theoretical and practical understanding, as well as evaluation of current research at the interdisciplinary level. Results and Conclusions: Ukrainian legislation does not define the concepts of "social innovation" and "social entrepreneurship," which hinders the development and functioning of social entrepreneurship and the production of social innovations. The war and its aftermath have created new challenges that require new practical approaches and means of solving social problems. One of these approaches is to combine the measures of the current social policy in Ukraine, limited by the organisational and financial involvement of the state in solving social problems, with the possibilities of public participation and entrepreneurial activity. Introducing modern world practices of social innovation and social entrepreneurship, as well as regulatory regulation of social enterprises, will be an essential step towards developing the non-governmental sector of social development and social protection policy.

Social enterprises appear to offer innovative solutions for empowering women in entrepreneurship and achieving gender equality. This research, however, finds that female social entrepreneurs remain disadvantaged relative to their male counterparts during social entrepreneurial financing. Although this female-male disparity becomes diminished when ventures indicate more social value orientation, the results show that this is because more social value orientation reduces the funding to male founders but has no apparent effect on female founders. These results contribute to research on social entrepreneurship from a gender lens and call for greater attention to gender assumptions about social entrepreneurship in practice.

هدفت الدراسة الحالية إلى التعرف على أثر المساندة الاجتماعية للمرأة السعودية في دعم ريادتها للأعمال، وذلك من خلال: التعرف على مستوى المساندة الاجتماعية ومستوى ريادة الأعمال لدى رائدات الأعمال في مدينه أبها، الكشف عن وجود علاقة ارتباطيه ذات دلالة إحصائية بين المساندة الاجتماعية وريادة الأعمال لدى رائدات الأعمال في مدينة أبها، الكشف عن وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية في المساندة الاجتماعية، وريادة الأعمال لدى رائدات الأعمال في مدينة أبها تعزى لمتغيرات الدراسة (الحالة الاجتماعية- السن- عدد الأبناء- المؤهل-نوع النشاط). ولتحقيق هذا الهدف استخدمت الدراسة المنهج الوصفي التحليلي، والاستبانة كأداة لجمع البيانات، وتمثل مجتمع الدراسة في كافة رائدات الأعمال في مدينة أبها، وتم اختيار عينة عشوائية بلغت (409) رائدة أعمال بمدينة أبها. وتوصلت الدراسة إلى عدة نتائج من أهمها: أن مستوى المساندة الاجتماعية لدى رائدات الأعمال في مدينه أبها جاء بدرجة متوسطة، وجاء مستوى تطبيق مبادئ ريادة الأعمال لدى رائدات الأعمال في مدينه أبها بدرجة كبيرة، والمردود الاقتصادي والاجتماعي لمشروعات ريادة الأعمال جاء بدرجة كبيرة. توجد علاقة ارتباطيه ذات دلالة إحصائية بين المساندة الاجتماعية وريادة الأعمال لدى رائدات الأعمال في مدينة أبها، لا توجد فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية بين استجابات أفراد عينة الدراسة وفق متغير الحالة الاجتماعية-السن-عدد الأبناء-المؤهل، بينما توجد فروق وفق متغير نوع النشاط وذلك لصالح فئة زراعي. وتوصي الدراسة بضرورة نشر ثقافة ريادة الأعمال بين النساء السعوديات بما يسهم في زيادة أعداد رائدات الأعمال ويسهم في تعزيز العائد الوطني الاقتصادي والاجتماعي، وضرورة تنظيم مبادرات وطنية لتلبية احتياجات رائدات الأعمال والعمل على حل المشكلات التي تواجهن، وضرورة الاهتمام بتوفير برامج تدريبية متقدمة عن ريادة الأعمال والمجالات التي يحتاجها سوق العمل السعودي بما يسهم في توفير فرص ريادية جديدة.

Women entrepreneurs as agents of change: A comparative analysis of social entrepreneurship processes in emerging markets

PurposeCarbon offsets gained attention about 15 years ago, with numerous providers emerging under regulated and voluntary regimes. However, due to a lack of technical literacy among some market participants, no common quality or certification structure existed, leading to concerns over “worthless” credits. This paper critically assesses the voluntary carbon market’s evolution, aiming to identify top providers and evaluate them based on six criteria: project quality, additionality, certifications, single ownership, price transparency and social entrepreneurship. The last criteria are new research criteria since the purpose of this study is to determine how many projects are aimed at social entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approachThis study examines factors determining top carbon offset providers, with a focus on the role of social entrepreneurship. We ranked 73 providers based on criteria like project quality, additionality, certifications and social entrepreneurship. Our analysis found that project quality and certification were key differentiators, while social entrepreneurship had the lowest score. Despite many providers engaging in sustainable projects, few were women- or minority-owned. This study highlights the effectiveness of current criteria and key focus areas within the carbon offset sector.FindingsOur results show that top carbon offset providers are distinguished by project quality, certifications and standardizations. While most focus on sustainable projects, there is little emphasis on women- and minority-owned initiatives. Social entrepreneurship is only correlated with project quality and price transparency, not with other factors like additionality or certifications. Top providers excel in project quality, additionality, certifications, single ownership and price transparency but not in social entrepreneurship. Probit regression analysis highlights project quality, additionality, price transparency and social entrepreneurship as the most important criteria, with social entrepreneurship scoring the lowest.Research limitations/implicationsBecause the study was based on a web search, our team could only research carbon offset providers that had operational websites and that were in English. Hence, our study did not include those ventures that do not have a web presence or whose webpages are in other languages.Practical implicationsThis paper can be used by individuals or organizations that are looking into carbon neutrality to understand the risks and misinformation in the market. We hope this study will provide background and guidance to social entrepreneurs and policy makers in the space of social entrepreneurship. Indeed, though there are examples of corporations purchasing carbon assets in the media, most of these are large-scale projects.Social implicationsIn our survey, we included a question asking respondents to explore whether carbon offset providers’ projects were social ventures. If they were, respondents classified these projects into four categories: women entrepreneurship, minority entrepreneurship, sustainable entrepreneurship or development entrepreneurship. The goal was to determine if providers focus on social projects, such as those owned by women or minorities or projects within the sustainable or development spheres.Originality/valueOur study is one of the first to link social entrepreneurship to the area of carbon offsets. To our knowledge, no prior study has linked these two domains of research. Given that these markets are largely unregulated, users must grasp how they function and be aware of concerns such as the lack of standardization and the risk of double-counting permits.