Structuring the Field of Social Entrepreneurship: A Transatlantic Comparative Approach

Abstract

During recent years, social entrepreneurship has been receiving greater recognition from the public sector, as well as from scholars (Stryjan, 2006; Weerawardena and Sullivan Mort, 2006). Encouraging social initiatives has been on our governments' agenda for a while. European policy makers claim the importance of social enterprises as 'they not only are significant economic actors, but also play a key role in involving citizens more fully in Society and in the creation and reproduction of social capital, by organizing, for example, opportunities for volunteering' (European Commission, 2003). Consequently, several European states have created specific legal forms for this kind of initiatives. On the other hand, famous business schools all around the world have created centres for research and education programmes in social entrepreneurship. So far, academic research in social entrepreneurship 'has largely been focused on defining what it is and what it does, and does not, have in common with commercial entrepreneurship' (Nicholls, 2008: 7).