Collective Identity in Social Enterprise Ecosystems: A Cross-Country Comparison

Abstract

In response to the call for research on the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems for social entrepreneurship, we engaged the organisational field literature, particularly the issue field perspective, in understanding the institutional dynamics in the evolution of social enterprise ecosystems. We examine genetic and epigenetic factors—stakeholder networks and policy directives—in shaping social enterprise identity claims made by diverse groups of organisations in emerging social enterprise ecosystems. We conducted a cross-country comparative analysis of 549 organisations’ social enterprise identity claims and organisational practices in the Philippines and Sri Lanka. The results show that SoEE evolution is not typified by the emergence of a dominant phenotype—social enterprise model—but could also be a field of diverse organisations that claim a social enterprise identity.