SOCIAL ENTERPRISE AS AN IMPORTANT PRECONDITION FOR DEVELOPMENT OF UKRAINIAN ECONOMY

Abstract

The article examines the essence of social entrepreneurship and its role in community life in terms of socio-economic crisis. Common and distinctive features between social entrepreneurship, business and philanthropy are defined. Characteristic components of the categories «social enterprise», «socially oriented enterprise» and «socially responsible business» are investigated. The key criteria that characterize the organization as a subject of social entrepreneurship are given. In particular, it includes: social orientation of activity; ensuring self-sustainability of activities; entrepreneurial approach; reinvestment of profit into activity; innovation in solving of social problems; scalability of activity. The approaches to understanding of the essence of social entrepreneurship in Ukraine are determined. The results of the survey of domestic social entrepreneurs concerning the peculiarities of their activities, such as: quantitative and qualitative characteristics of their activities, are presented. The main obstacles of social entrepreneurship development, such as: the lack of a legal and regulatory framework for regulating the activities of social enterprises, the lack of information in the media on the activities of entrepreneurs, distrust and misunderstanding from the overwhelming majority of the population, the lack of necessary support from the government, are identified. Measures to avoid the constraining factors of social entrepreneurship's development are offered.