Enhancing Policy Support for Sustainable Social Enterprises

"Social enterprises" (SEs) - organizations trading for social purposes – are proving increasingly important in the attainment of economic and social goals in both developing and developed countries. Frequently geared towards socially-responsible and inclusive sustainable development, many SEs operate through collaborative-enterprises or hybrid organizations that straddle the space between the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Currently, the paucity of research into: the motivations for; structure; support mechanisms; daily operations and the social and economic impacts and outcomes of SEs, have led to calls in the literature for much more comparative and less context-bound research. This study thus aims to further understanding of the development, effectiveness and impact of SEs. In particular, through regional comparative research, it seeks to make a new contribution to the analysis of how the presence or absence of government policies that regulate or support SEs can facilitate or hinder their ability to achieve economic and social goals.