Defining Social Enterprise Across Different Contexts

Abstract

This study proposes a conceptual framework for institutional processes shaping social enterprise that spans regional differences in the term. Over time, countries and regions have come to identify different definitions and concepts with the term social enterprise, leading to a debate among researchers and practitioners on how to define the concept. Rather than a narrow definition, this study draws on the theory of historical institutionalism, national-level empirical data, and country descriptions of social enterprise to construct a conceptual framework that informs models of social enterprise found internationally. These models are preliminarily checked against empirically based case studies of five countries’ current institutional patterns and how they relate to the types of social enterprises found there. Theoretically this research advances understanding of how context influences the development of social enterprise, which in turn informs social enterprise models with practical implications.