scholarly journals Institutional aspects of the social enterprises’ sector development (case for Poland and Ukraine)

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oleksandr Lyakh

The potential contribution of social enterprises to work integration, job creation, and service delivery remains largely unrealized both in Poland and Ukraine. This paper focuses on the analysis of the role of social economy and social enterprises sector in providing employment opportunities and wide range of services for group of interest. One of the major obstacles to the discussion and study of the topic is the lack of a clear and concise definition. It is requiring investigating evolution of social enterprise as a concept and as a sector of the Polish and Ukrainian economies. Institutional aspects and legal frameworks are considered in order to define the appropriate eco-system for social enterprises sector support and fostering. Attention was also paid to frame of the policy for social enterprises support and ongoing decentralization of public authority that is allowing to clarify what level of authority should be responsible for concrete policy measures elaborating.

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary O’Shaughnessy ◽  
Patricia O’Hara

AbstractWhat is termed the social economy in Ireland includes charities, co-operatives, voluntary associations and non-profits. However, the label is not widely used to describe them collectively so that many organisations within the wider social economy do not identify themselves with, or even fully understand, the term. The concept of social enterprise first emerged in public policy discourse in the 1990s and, since then, has been mainly viewed as a mechanism of job creation/integration and service provision in disadvantaged communities. This perspective on social enterprise has been significantly influenced by European policy. By contrast, in Irish academic discourse, the interpretation of social enterprise is more varied due to the different influences of the US and European intellectual traditions. These variations have contributed to ambiguity about the social economy as a sector, and social enterprises as distinctive forms, and this has compromised attempts to estimate the scale and potential of the sector in Ireland to date. In 2013, as part of the policy response to the unemployment crisis of the economic recession, the Irish government commissioned an examination of the job-creation potential of social enterprise. The Forfás report offered a new official definition of social enterprise, characterised by many of the features of the EMES ideal type. Furthermore, the description and examples of social enterprises included in the report confirmed the dominance of one model of social enterprise in Ireland – the Work Integration Social Enterprise or WISE. The objective of this paper is to discuss how social economy and social enterprise are understood in Ireland and to explain how WISEs have evolved as the dominant Irish social enterprise model to date. The influence of the US (Salamon and Anheier 1997; Dees 1998) and European/EMES academic traditions (Pestoff 1998; Borzaga and Defourny 2001; Nyssens 2006; Defourny and Nyssens 2010, 2012) and EU and national policy perspectives, since the early 1990s, on Irish academic and policy discourse is discussed in this paper. It is argued that the adoption by successive Irish governments of a labour market integration approach, to supporting the development of the Irish social economy, since the early 1990s, has shaped the sector and contributed to the emergence of one dominant social enterprise type, the WISE. Some of the characteristics and impacts of Irish WISE are then discussed together with the challenges they face.


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-72
Author(s):  
Maria Ilcheva

In 2018 the Bulgarian Government has launched a new legislation on the enterprises of social and solidarity economy as a political sign for the recognition of the role of social economy sector in the country. This was an expected result from the recent trend of development of the social economy in Bulgaria and the growing visibility of the sector and its consolidation with the policies of the European Union. At European policy level social economy and social enterprises are identified as a key instrument for employment and innovations which have a major role in overcoming the poverty and social exclusion. The aim of the law is to regulate the public relations related with the social and solidarity economy, the types of social enterprises and the measures for their support as well as the conditions and the requirements for the activities of social enterprises. As this is the first Bulgarian law on social economy it provides the bases for a public policy which stimulates the development of sector and establishes clear rules for a registry of social enterprises and a methodology for measuring the social added value. Тhe purpose of the current report is to provide an overview of the new policy and legislation in Bulgaria and to analyze the expected effects on the development of the social economy sector.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (Suppl.1) ◽  
pp. 176-180
Author(s):  
K. Stoyanov ◽  
G. Zhelyazkov

The social economy is a phenomenon that is gaining ever more significant dimensions, mainly because of its added value, which goes beyond measurable economic indicators. The role of enterprises operating in the social economy is also highly appreciated by the European Commission, which calculates their contribution to the European economy by more than 10% of its total. Because of the specificity and lack of specific legal rules, businesses use different business models to carry out their activities. The purpose of this study is to identify, define and evaluate the most commonly used business models of enterprises operating in the social economy, the so called third sector, analysing successful business practices. Using appropriate examples, including from Bulgaria, will be highlighted problematic issues for the functioning of social enterprises and some basic guidelines will be proposed to facilitate business operations in the social economy.


2019 ◽  
pp. 49-65
Author(s):  
Rodica Gherghina ◽  
Ioana Duca

In their scientific endeavour, the authors aim at analysing the concepts of social entrepreneurship and social economy, as well as emphasising the role these concepts play in sustainable business development and in the economic development of society as a whole. At the same time, several aspects of social enterprises are presented and their importance in the Romanian economic environment is emphasised. As these are two relatively new concepts in the social economy in Romania, the authors refer to the specialised literature throughout their research. The authors present several of the opportunities and challenges raised by social economy. The importance of financing is emphasised by means of presenting the organisations' financing sources which are specific to social economy. The conclusions to this research include some of the authors' own viewpoints, with reference to the aspects of social entrepreneurship – social enterprises – social economy and their role in overall economic development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-45
Author(s):  
Claudia Petrescu ◽  
Mihaela Lambru

Social enterprises are embedded in the local context, their organizational characteristics and operational strategies being influenced by the institutional settings, political culture and historical traditions and events. Similar to other European countries, Romania has included the modernization of the welfare systems in the development agenda of the last decade. One of the areas of interest was to better understand and promote the dynamics of the social enterprises as economic, social development actors and facilitators. From a neo-institutionalist perspective, this paper aims to explore the role of social enterprises as a component of Romanian welfare system. It starts with an overview of the history of the Romanian social enterprise, its roots and drivers; it continues with the identification of the roles, challenges and development processes of the social enterprises as welfare services. Keywords: social economy; social enterprise; welfare system.


Author(s):  
Rodica Gherghina ◽  
Ioana Duca

In their scientific endeavour, the authors aim at analysing the concepts of social entrepreneurship and social economy, as well as emphasising the role these concepts play in sustainable business development and in the economic development of society as a whole. At the same time, several aspects of social enterprises are presented and their importance in the Romanian economic environment is emphasised. As these are two relatively new concepts in the social economy in Romania, the authors refer to the specialised literature throughout their research. The authors present several of the opportunities and challenges raised by social economy. The importance of financing is emphasised by means of presenting the organisations' financing sources which are specific to social economy. The conclusions to this research include some of the authors' own viewpoints, with reference to the aspects of social entrepreneurship – social enterprises – social economy and their role in overall economic development.


2020 ◽  
pp. 0308518X2094806
Author(s):  
Norma M Rantisi ◽  
Deborah Leslie

In an era of workfare, characterized by the rise of ‘work first’ policies, new actors are emerging in the field of labour market integration. This paper explores the role of one labour market intermediary- Petites-Mains. Petites-Mains is a Work Integration Social Enterprise (WISE), which emerged to promote the social and economic inclusion of immigrant women in Montreal. We discuss the challenges the organization confronts in balancing its hybrid economic/social mandate and countering the negative effects of the market. While WISEs in Quebec have their origins in community or religious associations and their emergence can be traced to the decline of the welfare state, over time they have become increasingly dependent on state funding (especially support from the provincial government). The increasingly neoliberal orientation of provincial governments threatens the social mandates of the WISEs. These changes are affecting the potential of WISEs to assist marginalized immigrant women. We discuss some of the ways WISEs respond to the challenges they confront, leveraging networks at a variety of scales, and in doing so, we challenge conventional accounts of the role of civil society organizations.


Author(s):  
Marco Alberio ◽  
Gabrielle Tremblay

RESUME Les entreprises d'insertion, nées au début des années 1980, sont des acteurs d'économie sociale ayant une mission d'insertion socioprofessionnelle de divers groupes (jeunes et femmes notamment). Dans cet article, nous exposons les enjeux de gestion de la performance et illustrons comment les entreprises d’insertion sont amenées à une hybridation de la performance, tentant d’assurer la productivité tout en respectant leur mission sociale, soit celle de formation et d’insertion professionnelle. La recherche repose sur des entretiens menés auprès des responsables et employés de neuf entreprises d’insertion au Québec. ABSTRACT Work integration social enterprises (WISE), born in the 80s, are actors in the social-economy field whose mission is the socio-professional integration of various groups (youth and women, notably). In this article, we present the challenges of performance management for such organizations, which have to realize a sort of hybridization, as they have to simultaneously ensure production and productivity while fulfilling their social mission, which consists of training and professional integration. The research for this article was based on interviews with the managers and workers of nine social enterprises in Québec.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
CHERYL HIU-KWAN CHUI ◽  
CHEE HON CHAN ◽  
YANTO CHANDRA

Abstract Policymakers have increasingly embraced social enterprises as a vehicle to create job opportunities for the disadvantaged. However, there is limited research on social enterprises in the context of disability in relation to labour market integration. Drawing on the perspectives of representatives of work integration social enterprises and people with disabilities employed in these enterprises (n=21), this study examines whether and how work integration social enterprises promote inclusion for people with disabilities, and also explores the role of WISEs in enabling people with disabilities to transition into open employment. Thematic analysis revealed three key emergent themes: Cocooned inclusion but not transition; Reinforced normative demarcation; and WISEs as a deflection from institutionalizing proactive disability policy measures. This article argues that, although WISEs were able to provide job opportunities for people with disabilities, their purported function in enabling disabled people to transition into open employment remains constrained by factors beyond their control including prevailing norms and the absence of proactive disability employment measures. This article cautions against the over-romanticisation of WISEs as the primary means to ensure the rights of people with disabilities to participate in the labour market. Implications on disability employment policies in relation to social enterprises are discussed.


2013 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 117-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sorin Cace ◽  
Simona Maria Stănescu

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