Social Entrepreneurship and the Common Good

Social entrepreneurship combines business innovation with an explicit purpose of positive social and environmental impact, becoming increasingly relevant for analysis from various perspectives. This article presents a systematic review of the literature on social entrepreneurship, aiming to consolidate existing knowledge, identify emerging trends and gaps, and provide an updated guide for researchers and policymakers. The results reveal diverse methodological perspectives, ranging from quantitative research on economic impact and poverty reduction to ethnographies that explore the experiences and strategies of social entrepreneurs. The unique potential of social entrepreneurship to address global challenges is highlighted, necessitating comprehensive strategies to promote it sustainably. Furthermore, education is identified as a fundamental pillar of positive social change due to its role in developing professionals with an entrepreneurial mindset oriented toward social transformation. Finally, the paper emphasizes the need to diversify research lines and initiatives that encourage social impact entrepreneurship in a proactive and innovative manner. Received: 3 January 2024 / Accepted: 25 April 2024 / Published: 5 May 2024

Being social entrepreneurship (SE) the closest to Economy for the Common Good (ECG) principles, our work proposes to analyze the contribution of ECG model to SE. It is also intended to establish the relationship that exists between both concepts. Therefore, our specific objectives are to (1) identify the specific contributions of ECG principles to SE as well as their overlaps, (2) perform a literature review to analyze and quantify the number of research papers on SE and ECG, and (3) identify the possible existing gap. Through a double methodology, we (1) determine the potential contributions of the ECG model to SE, we propose to analyze the Common Good (CG) matrix and (2) empirical analysis on the existing literature body on SE and ECG. SE and ECG model share a number of principles and features which may be translated into some important overlaps in relation to both research bodies. So CG matrix can help to successfully launch and manage social ventures. This fact is mainly due to the fact that there is not a sufficiently large body of literature that relates models. In future research, it would be interesting to extend the bibliographic search to other databases.

The paper argues that a relational understanding of conscience, discernment, and common good can provide basic guidelines for ethical decision-making for social entrepreneurs. It challenges the widespread individualistic vision of an entrepreneur as a natural-born hero who has been called to transform society for others. On the contrary, an entrepreneur can support communication, understanding, and solidarity between social entrepreneurs and the communities they work in. It is these relationships that can make social entrepreneurship truly social and caring. One important illustrative example of genuine social entrepreneurship is the Mondragon Corporation, founded as a co-operative in 1956 in the Basque region in Spain. It is today a network of over 260 companies with more than 80,000 employees in fields such as finance, industry, education, and retail. Despite its size, its values still retain its original co-operative spirit: it does not define itself simply as “a business,” but as a “business-based socio-economic initiative” which values—among other things—democratic organization, the subordination of capital to labor, participatory management, and wage solidarity. Mondragon challenges existing management theories by showing that cooperation and solidarity can be the basis of a successful enterprise.

The financial crisis of 2007/08 has caused many to question the basic premises of the current business system. ‘Business as usual’ has come under heavy scrutiny. Achieving environmental and social sustainability stand out as some of the major challenges that current business leaders have to deal with (Jackson & Nelson, 2004). Social Entrepreneurs who address social or environmental problems in innovative ways could thus serve as role models to 21st century leaders. In a manner unsettling to traditional management styles, social entrepreneurs try most often to create shared value and pursue dual objectives (Alter, 2006; Pirson, 2008a; Rangan, Quelch, Herrero, & Barton, 2007). Achieving positive social and environmental impact is considered key to the motivation (Yunus, 2008). It is assumed that social entrepreneurs are able to create shared value in the sense that they create social and environmental impact while earning income and be financially sustainable (Elkington & Hartigan, 2008). This seemingly simple assumption questions longstanding economic research, and questions some of the basic foundations of organizational research. Scholars in economics and management have long made the case that general welfare is increased most by organizations that maximize a single objective function. Jensen (2002) even opined that without a single objective function, no firm could be managed meaningfully. Accordingly, if organizations were now to focus on a balance of different goals, they would necessarily undermine their impact and not maximize their potential. This tension between the practice of social entrepreneurship and the theoretical insights merit further study, since all too easily proponents of either side end up making arguments based more on ideology and wishful thinking rather than facts. Hence in the below paper, I will examine the question whether social enterprises can indeed create shared value and if so, under what circumstances. After a short introduction to the concept of social entrepreneurship, I will then present three cases of rather prominent social enterprises and analyze their evolution. I will conclude by presenting the conditions in which shared value creation can be managed, and in which circumstances maximization strategies prove superior.

Building a socially oriented economy, ensuring high and stable rates of development of the national economy is impossible without the implementation of a partnership between the public sector and representatives of the private sector to solve socially significant issues of society: reducing social tension, increasing the general welfare of the population; solving cultural and environmental problems. The most popular form of interaction between the government and business is a public-private partnership. Implementing public-private partnerships in social entrepreneurship is associated with risks and the development of mechanisms for managing them in implementing partnership relations of public-legal entities. The publication aims to study the risks of public-private partnerships in developing social entrepreneurship and create a mechanism for their minimization. The article examines the nature of risks arising while implementing public-private partnerships in developing social entrepreneurship. The categorical apparatus of the concepts of "public-private partnership", "risk", "social entrepreneurship", and "risk management" is defined. It has been proven that public-private partnership allows the efforts of the state and private business to solve significant socio-economic problems and implement the principles of sustainable development of society — researched analysis of approaches to the classification of risks in PPPs. An assessment of the most common risks for all parties participating in the PPP was carried out. Typical benefits of public-private partnerships in the development of social entrepreneurship are determined. The directions for improving the risk management mechanism of public-private partnerships in developing social entrepreneurship have been developed. For the development of social entrepreneurship, implementing public-private partnership projects depends on minimizing all risks through analyzing social and economic feasibility, correctness and structure, and the coordinated work of all interested parties. Keywords: public-private partnership, risk, social entrepreneurship, competitiveness, risk management mechanism, state, private sector.

We develop a double-sided moral hazard model of social entrepreneurship and derive the optimal state subsidy. Then, we analyze the data of an EU-funded training and mentoring program aiming at preparing social entrepreneurs for private financing. Using content analysis techniques, we investigate the 203 applications for the program, the reviewers’ evaluation, and the selection decision. Social enterprises produce private and public benefits, use market and non-market resources, and involve a wide range of stakeholders with different incentives. We examine why different projects can get active financing (financing plus advisory), or only passive financing (financing without advisory), or no financing at all. We identify five relevant selection criteria such as entrepreneurial net present value, entrepreneurial agency cost, advisory net present value, advisory agency cost, and the external effects of the project. Empirical findings are consistent with the theoretical model. Applicants with higher scores in business plan, social impact, and geographical scope were significantly more likely to be selected, especially if their activities required no domain-specific knowledge from the advisors. However, higher agency costs, reflected in too many business lines and early-stage operations, seem to reduce the chances significantly. We formulate a moral hazard model for social entrepreneurship with four simultaneously optimizing players: an entrepreneur, an investor, an advisor, and the state. With the help of our unique database, we get valuable insights into the financing decisions of a profit-seeking investor. Our findings can contribute to the improvement of the design of state-subsidized social entrepreneurship programs.

The power of big data and their applications are evident through the enormous attention they have received over the past few years, with the majority of the research focusing on solving technical and business problems. However, the challenge remains on how to harness the potential of big data in order to come up with innovative solutions on various societal problems. Big data have the potential to change the way that entrepreneurs as well as the other stakeholders of a social ecosystem take decisions , and develop new paths to create social innovation by taking data-driven decisions. Nonetheless, there is limited understanding on how social ecosystems need to change to embrace the advancement that big data entail. There is a need to institutionalize innovation through big data and social entre-preneurship, and examine how to successfully exploit big data towards achieving social good and sustainable change. We suggest building on the current state of the art, and go beyond it by merging and extending the findings with insights from the different stakeholders involved in the social innovation process. Further, we propose developing and testing a framework of best practices, that will be used as a roadmap by interested parties to successfully employ big data for social innovation, through the development of prototype applications which will clearly showcase the impact of big data on addressing societal challenges. This position paper concludes with research questions and challenges for future studies in the area.

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to determine the future proportion and variants of usage of human intellect and artificial intelligence (AI) in entrepreneurship of industry 4.0 that fits social entrepreneurship the most. It could be convergence (simultaneous utilization during the same entrepreneurial processes with the emphasis on unique features by the terms of the competition) or divergence (usage during different business processes by the terms of labor division).Design/methodology/approachThe authors determine the influence of usage of human capital and AI on the efficiency of social entrepreneurship. The authors identify the perspective directions of usage of AI in social entrepreneurship and evaluate the readiness and interest in the implementation of these directions of concerned parties. The authors also model the optimal proportions and the variant of usage of human intellect and AI in social entrepreneurship in the conditions of Industry 4.0 in the future (until 2030).FindingsIt is found that social entrepreneurship will use the opportunities of Industry 4.0 for optimization of its activities until 2030, but will refuse from full automatization, using human intellect and AI at the same time.Originality/valueThe most perspective directions of application of AI at social companies are a collection of social goods and services, marketing studies and promotion of social goods and services. Neither convergence nor divergence of human and artificial intellectual capital does not fully conform to the interests of concerned parties. The most preferable (optimal) variant of usage of human intellect and AI in social entrepreneurship in the Industry 4.0 is human intelligent decision support.

Part 1: Free Market Economy and the Role of State Authorities.- Capitalism, Free Market Economy, and the Common Good: the Role of State Authorities in the Economic Sector. Martin Rhonheimer.- Indivisible Goods and Common Good. A Response to Martin Rhonheimer. Russell Hittinger.- Market and Common Good. Joao Cesar das Neves.- Beyond the Market/State Binary Code: The Common Good as Relational Good. Pierpaolo Donati.- The encyclical in between Christian tradition and modern economy. Martin Schlag.- From a of Greed to a Culture of Common Good. Michel Camdessus.- Free Markets and the Common Good. A Few Methodological Remarks. Rocco Buttiglione.- A Multidisciplinary Model of Economics. Alejandro Canadas.- A Paradigm Shift in the Social Teaching of the Church. From Rerum Novarum (1891) to Caritas in veritate (2009). Paul Josef Cardinal Cordes.- Financial Markets: A Tool for Transferring and managing risk? Michel Baroni.- Part 2: Social Responsibility, Entrepreneurship and virtues.- Catholic Small and Medium Enterprise Ministry: Resurrected Capital. Andreas Widmer.- Corporate Social Responsibility in the Encyclical in veritate. Antonio Argandona.- The Ethical Anchoring of Corporate Social Responsibility and the Critique of CSR. Stefano Zamagni.- Can CSR, Market Efficiency and Financial Rewards Interact Positivels in Periods of Crisis? Youssef El-Khalil.- Ethical Dimensions of Finance. Lord Brian Griffiths of Fforestfach.- Capitalism and Social Change: Some Thoughts on How to Change the World. Alan M. Webber.- The German Social Market Economy - theory, practice, and impulses of in Veritate for enhancements. Andrea Schneider.- Is Business Compatible with the Culture of Common Good? Joan Fontrodona, Alexis Banon and Alejo J. Sison.- Entrepreneurship and virtues. Rafael Alvira.

Nevertheless, scholarly knowledge on crowdfunding has been accumulating, and the number of studies on the role of crowdfunding in financing social entrepreneurs is limited and results are mixed. This calls for a need to uncover the underlying dynamics of funding success for socially and environmentally oriented projects. To analyze these dynamics, the authors analyze the funding performance of campaigns tagged by the Kickstarter platform as ‘public benefit', ‘environmental', or ‘LGBTQIA'. Results show that projects with these tags are more likely to be successful compared to projects without tags after controlling for other factors that are shown to affect project success in the literature. These findings provide guidelines to social entrepreneurs looking to fund their projects on crowdfunding platforms and open up the path for future research on the relationship between framing for social and environmental orientation and funding success.

The global impact of social values, norms, and cultures set the growth and future dimensions of most businesses. In global business governess, the sustainability of social entrepreneurship is heavily dependent on peoples' opinions and their social interactions. Nowadays, social media platforms represent the big global repositories of publically available information that can be exploited by social entrepreneurs to measure and assess the social impact of their business. There is still inadequate research that focuses on assessing social entrepreneurship impact in the area of big data. This paper aims to investigate the potential of big data in global social entrepreneurship. It examines the possibility of global impact of big data in social entrepreneurship. As an outcome, this paper highlight the challenges of social entrepreneurship dealing with, how they tackle globally, big data in social innovation, and how big data analytics needs for social entrepreneurship towards achieving social goods and sustainable change.

The global impact of social values, norms, and cultures set the growth and future dimensions of most businesses. In global business governess, the sustainability of social entrepreneurship is heavily dependent on peoples' opinions and their social interactions. Nowadays, social media platforms represent the big global repositories of publically available information that can be exploited by social entrepreneurs to measure and assess the social impact of their business. There is still inadequate research that focuses on assessing social entrepreneurship impact in the area of big data. This paper aims to investigate the potential of big data in global social entrepreneurship. It examines the possibility of global impact of big data in social entrepreneurship. As an outcome, this paper highlight the challenges of social entrepreneurship dealing with, how they tackle globally, big data in social innovation, and how big data analytics needs for social entrepreneurship towards achieving social goods and sustainable change.

This paper advances the field of social entrepreneurship by developing a basic economic model of the social entrepreneur as a profit-deviating firm. We then demonstrate how profit deviation lowers the effective operating costs of the firm, allowing social entrepreneurs to recognize, evaluate, and exploit previously unconsidered opportunities. In doing so, social entrepreneurs may generate knowledge spillovers by providing valuable ex-post entry information regarding the expected costs of a venture, thereby providing a public good to latent entrepreneurs in the commercial sector. Based on this new information, the latter may then enter markets previously considered unprofitable, leading to market development and growth. We illustrate the range of market conditions that are relevant for the social entrepreneur and provide one industry- and one company-focused case study to illustrate the model. The model and evidence provide a complementary role for the social entrepreneur beyond the production of collective goods.

For-profit, social entrepreneurship is a growing movement. As a result, in recent years, legislation authorizing the incorporation of a new form of for-profit business corporation known as a “benefit corporation” has been signed into law in numerous states. In addition to generating profit for shareholders, benefit corporations must “create” a “public benefit.” The requirement that a corporation support a humanitarian cause in addition to turning a profit is a significant departure from shareholder primacy — the idea that the sole purpose of a corporation is to make money. While this legislation is a progressive and needed evolution in U.S. corporate law, the current benefit corporation form includes only limited, toothless accountability and enforcement mechanisms. The current legislation does little to deter bad actors from taking advantage of socially conscious consumers willing to pay a premium for ethically sourced goods and services. This Note argues for the addition of attorney general oversight and enforcement in benefit corporation legislation in order to root out and deter the incorporation and marketing of sham benefit corporations.

The Paper investigates the challenges of the Italian Third Sector through the lens of their in-volvement in the management of community assets, such as when real estate and public spaces are re-generated on the purpose of activities of social interest, for instance confiscated properties to organized criminality, state-owned, religious corporations, and companies. Adopting the methodology of 'nested analysis', the paper explores quantitative data obtained from the ISTAT Census of non profit institutions, and qualitative data obtained from more than 50 case studies dealt with in recent scientific publications. Subsequently, the study further deepens the evidence emerged through the presentation and discussion of two case studies carried out by the authors: the Ex-Asilo Filangieri in Naples and Forte Marghera in Ven-ice. The Paper highlighted that actions of the Third Sector in the field of regeneration of community assets for social aims have not to be treated as nonprofit industry, in which general trends towards publicness and entrepreneurship are very noticeable. On the contrary, it looks like a field in which new forms of the Third Sector are emerging, and we can sort them as enterprising community.