Abstract
In Europe 160 million people are members of social economy enterprises and mutual societies. Members that work at social enterprises usually are bound with an employee relationship with their organization; on the other hand participating in a social enterprise could be their only chance to find a job, especially for economies that face a long-term recession such as the Greek economy. Social enterprises and entrepreneurs invest in reciprocity which represents that positive actions will inspire reciprocal positive actions. The main objective of this study is to examine the effect of reciprocity on members’ decision either to invest in social enterprises or to work for them acquiring in both cases the necessary shares. For this reason, a survey was conducted among Greek members of social enterprises listed in the Greek Social enterprises directory, to investigate their aspects about reciprocity and if these aspects affect their decision to work in a social enterprise or support financially them. The survey process returned 142 fully completed questionnaires. The analysis identified a sub group (5 over 27 items) of the questions used to measure reciprocity that can be used to classify participants into shareholders - members (investors) and shareholders - workers in social enterprises. It is worth mentioning that sex or other demographic characteristics of the respondents do not affect this classification while there are only aspects of positive reciprocity that have either positive or negative effect on the possibility to work in social enterprises. Social entrepreneurs and the Greek state could use these findings in order to direct and manage their expansion efforts.
Highlights
Greece has a long history and tradition of cooperatives mostly related with the agricultural sector (Karyotis and Kioupkiolis, 2014)
The wider Social Economy sector with the exception of the Cooperative banks, (Karafolas, 2016) was extremely small and insignificant in numbers until 2011, when a new legislation supported the establishment of social enterprises under the legal form of social cooperative enterprises (Koin.S.Ep.)
Among the main factors that led to the emergence of political movements linked with the social economy sector and the promotion of social enterprises were the high unemployment rate, the lack of job security both in the private and the public sector and the reduced public-sector spending
Summary
Greece has a long history and tradition of cooperatives mostly related with the agricultural sector (Karyotis and Kioupkiolis, 2014). After the incorporation of this legislation, the number of the businesses in the Sector of Social Economy raised to more than 1,000, releasing thousands new job positions (Nasioulas, 2012). Among the main factors that led to the emergence of political movements linked with the social economy sector and the promotion of social enterprises were the high unemployment rate, the lack of job security both in the private and the public sector and the reduced public-sector spending. This challenging socioeconomic context created the momentum and indicated the need for new models and approaches to tackle economic and social problems. The decline of more traditional entrepreneurial models and mentalities created space for social enterprises to emerge (British Council, 2017)
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