Abstract
The occurrence and scientific investigation of the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship are rather new. The term is very popular among politicians and is reflected in a lot of the political demands and willingness that they express. However, a review of the literature about it shows that there is no common ground or frame, and the historical developments are different in different countries and economies. Based on a study of the literature, a two-phase survey following the ‘Policy Delphi’ approach was conducted in Germany in order to enlighten this frameless picture of social entrepreneurship. Our results indicate five dimensions that extend the core term: ‘social’, namely ‘Societal–Visionary’, ‘Ecological’, ‘Societal–Entrepreneurial’, ‘Economic’, and ‘Innovative–Entrepreneurial’. The degree of intercorrelation among the five dimensions shows that four factors, namely ‘Societal–Visionary’, ‘Societal–Entrepreneurial’, ‘Economic’, and ‘Innovative–Entrepreneurial’, have low to medium-high correlations. The fifth factor, ‘Ecological’, has the weakest correlation with all other factors.
Highlights
This statement, amongst others, conveys the impression that social entrepreneurship and its importance for the systemic solutions to current social challenges have been understood
Many other factors might add to SDGs 3 and 5, social entrepreneurship is certainly a driver for reaching them
This can be seen in the number of start-ups of social enterprises: According to a study by Kreditanstalt für Wirtschaft (KfW), there were 154,000 young entrepreneurs in 2017 who described themselves as social entrepreneurs, which corresponds to a share of 9% [5]
Summary
“Social entrepreneurship plays an increasingly important role in solving current societal and social challenges” [1]. This statement, amongst others, conveys the impression that social entrepreneurship and its importance for the systemic solutions to current social challenges have been understood These and similar declarations of intent have hardly been reflected in the actions of states, alliances, or politicians. The 21st century is loaded with social challenges for which innovative solutions are urgently needed To this end, the United Nations adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda [2]. We look at the history of social entrepreneurship and explain the development in the United States and Europe, and consider special features in Germany. The novelty of this article lies in the focus on Germany and the application of the ‘Policy Delphi’
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