Development through Social Entrepreneurship: Perspectives and Evidence from Bangladesh

Abstract

Social entrepreneurship has recently emerged as a vital concept for assessing how business ventures are integrated with the social objective of development organizations. Despite its increasing salience, social entrepreneurship has remained largely under-investigated in the context of the developing world. In this paper, I explore the nature and form of social entrepreneurship, focusing on the non-profit sector in Bangladesh and using BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee) in particular as a case in point. The non-profit sector in Bangladesh, particularly the NGO initiatives, have transformed the lives of millions of poor and marginalized people, mostly women. Due to factors like the need for sustainability, several NGOs have increasingly engaged themselves in commercial enterprises. The paper underscores the potential trade-offs between organizational growth and pro-poor orientation that may jeopardize the social objectives of NGOs.