Scholarly record
GLOBAL LEGISLATION TRENDS IN SOCIAL ENTERPRISES
Abstract
Social enterprises are a relatively new and expanding field of study. They could be private for-profit, non-profit and hybrid organizations with a social mission that use business approaches to achieve their objectives. They typically function upon a range of laws to govern their creation, day-to-day management, tax arrangements and dissolution. Since social enterprises are in the inter-section of the for-profit and nonprofit sectors, policy makers have, in certain countries, sought to encourage it by creating a certain legal framework. However, as businesses that prioritize achievement of social and environmental benefits over profit-making for their owners, they have the potential to make an enormous difference in economic development. Traditional business law and the structures it provides prioritize the social mission of the enterprise as an legal entity over the interests of the shareholders. The paper analyzes the legal framework of the social enterprises globally, the various forms under which they operate in developed and developing countries, and the implications for public policies. Social entrepreneurship as part of the social and solidarity economy is constantly developing. Inevitably, this dynamics also affects the constantly changing legal regulation of these enterprises in order to make them more efficient and sustainable. The most frequent legal organizational forms of these enterprises are the non-profit legal entities and the ones with economic and hybrid organizations. Each country, based on its sovereignty, creates different policies for the realization of social entrepreneurship, which also reflects on the legal organizational forms of the social enterprises. Accordingly, the different state policies are aimed at promoting or not such initiatives. The article attempts to explore and analyze the legal framework of social enterprises on a global scale and the different forms of functioning of social enterprises in developed and developing countries.
Publication Impact Profile
Publication details
References14
Atanasova, Irina, European dimensions of the social enterprises and development of the social entrepreneurship un Bulgaria, International journal of research – GRANTHAALAYAN, volume 5, issue 10 p. 175-183, http://granthaalayah.com/Publication-Volume-5-Issue-10-October-Edition.html, 2017
Social enterprise. An international overview of its conceptual evolution and legal implementation, Galera Giulia and Carlo Borzaga ,,European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises, University of Trento, Italy http://www.fdsc.ro/library/prometeus/Social_enterprise.An_international_overview.pdf
Reis, T., “Unleashing the new resources and entrepreneurship for the common good: A scan, synthesis and scenario for action”, Battle Creek, MI, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, p. 27., 1999
Peredo, A. M., and McLean, M., “Social Entrepreneurship: A Critical Review of the Concept”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 41 No. 1, pp. 56-65, 2006
The Social Economy in the European Union – 2012, Report prepared for the European Economic and Social Committee, http://www.ciriec.uliege.be/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/EESC_CIRIECReport2012_EN.pdf , 2012
Valentinov, V., “The Economics of the Non-distribution Constraint: A critical Appraisal”, The Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Vol. 79 No. 1, pp. 35-52., 2008
Borzaga, C. and Tortia, E., An Evolutionary Perspective on the Theory of Social Enterprise, Department of Economics, University of Trento, Trento, 2005
Triponel, Anna; Agapitova, Natalia, Legal Framework for Social Enterprise : Lessons from a Comparative Study of Italy, Malaysia, South Korea, United Kingdom, and United States. World Bank, Washington, DC. © World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/26397 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO, 2017
Bainbridge, S.. Interpreting Nonshareholder Constituency Statutes, 19 Pepperdine. L. Rev. 971,973., 1992
Kerlin, J. “Social Enterprise in the United States and Europe: Understanding and Learning from the Differences”, Voluntas, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 246-262., 2006
Barbetta, G. P, Il Ruolo del Terzo Settore: Breve Rassegna della Letteratura Economica, in Bassanini, M.C. and Ranci, P. (eds), Non Per Profitto. Il Settore dei Soggetti che Erogano Servizi di Interesse Collettivo senza Fini di Lucro, Fondazione Adriano Olivetti, Città di Castello, 1990
Venturi P and Zandonai F. Istituti di Ricerca sull’Impresa Sociale, Social enterprise in Italy, Plurality of models and contribution to growth Iris Network Report – Executive Summary, 2012
LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR SOCIAL ECONOMY AND SOCIAL ENTERPRISES: A COMPARATIVE REPORT, prepared by the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law, ISBN: 978-92-95092-64-8, http://www.icnl.org/research/library/files/Transnational/TransNatlegal.pdf, 2012
Atanasova, Irina, Legal framework of the Social Enterprises in Bulgaria and Their Socio-economic Effects In: Conference Proceedings Book - ITEMA 2018, Graz, Austria
View or Download full articleAccess options
SWS access login
Login as SWS Scientific CommitteeLogin as SWS Scientific PartnerLogin as SWS AuthorAuthors and approved SWS contributors will read and export their own linked papers after identity matching by SWS profile, email and SGEM GlobalID.
For librarian assistance: [email protected]
Purchase Instant Access
- Article can be downloaded after successful payment.
- Article may be used according to SWS library access terms.
- Article cannot be redistributed.
