Journal of Social Entrepreneurship

Empirical and theoretical insights on social entrepreneurship from the developing and developed world

Social entrepreneurship (SE): empirical and theoretical insights from the developing and developed world

It has been argued that the “rapid growth of SE research, the emerging nature of the literature, and the fact that SE builds on different disciplines and fields (e.g., entrepreneurship, sociology, economics, ethics) have led to a rather fragmented literature without dominant frameworks” (Saebi et al, 2019). While this may indeed be the case, it is also an agreed position that SE is “a fluid and contested phenomenon” (Nicholls and Collavo, 2019) and, as such, will be defined differently depending on the actors and stakeholders involved in its practice (Dacin et al, 2010).

One interesting area of difference that requires further investigation is that between social entrepreneurship in developing and developed economies (Mair and Marti, 2006; Chandra and Kerlin, 2020; Fauzi et al., 2025; Ukil, 2025). Several important differences have been identified in a context where opportunities for SE have become increasingly globalized (Zahra et al, 2008).  For example, in developing economies the motivation for SE is often to overcome market and institutional failures in relation to unmet needs, such as education, healthcare and hygiene.  In the developed economies the motivations often relate to issues of diversity, the environment and sustainability challenges and issues related to mental health.

Social issues in developing economies that motivate potential social entrepreneurs include poverty, gender inequality and problems relating to waste management, while in developed economies the focus is often on climate concerns, mental health, immigration among others.

Developing economies suffer from lack of access to funding, low levels of government support and reliance on informal connections, whereas developed economies offer more funding for the development of social enterprise, through government grants, structured entrepreneurial supportive eco-systems and so on.

The business models of social enterprise in developing economies often have an emphasis on communities, microenterprise with a not-for-profit perspective, while in developed economies business models have more of a for-profit orientation, are part of an investment eco-system and are concerned more with scalability.  Evaluation of the impact of SE and enterprise tends to be more formalized in developed economies.

Finally, the use of technology in developing economy SE is fast increasing, however, much is still characterized by frugal innovation and, particularly in India, ‘jugaad’.  As app development continues to be made available to all and with the integration of analytics and the production and capture of vast quantities of data, the space for SE is likely to open-up in developing economies.

The distinctiveness between SE in the developing and developed world provides opportunities for comparative research in similar sectors but also offers interesting prospects for theory development.  For example, there are institutional voids in developing economies created by poorly functioning markets and governments.  There are also issues mobilizing scarce resources and how to help those at the bottom of the pyramid through SE. In the developed economies there is more emphasis given to the hybrid nature of the social enterprise, to networks and public-private partnerships.

In this special issue we encourage contributions that engage with the above issues empirically and theoretically.  Submissions should also be mindful of the definition of SE used in the journal, as having four key components:

First, sociality is a focus on a defined social purpose or benefit to society that is carefully measured. This could be identifiable by organization type such as co-operatives or charities, or sectors, like healthcare or education. Second, innovation is seen as either creative or destructive changes to social or economic systems. Third, market orientation places social entrepreneurship in a broader competitive landscape of funding, outputs, accountability and legitimacy, all focused on a relentless effort to improve performance and increase social impact. Finally, social entrepreneurship is defined by its tendency to operate in hybrid spaces between the public, private/commercial and civil society sectors - often in the form of hybrid organizational forms such as co-operatives or social enterprises.

We are interested in continuing to explore SE in its broader manifestations. The variety and extent of SE, and the contexts that stimulate the need for SE provide the starting point for contributions for this special issue.  Submissions are encouraged in these areas.

·       Institutional contexts and their impact on SE.

·       Types of SE and social enterprise.

·       Case study approaches to SE that explore business models, structures and networks.

·       Enablers and constraints on SE.

·       Technology use and deployment in SE.

·       Country comparisons of SE.

References

Chandra, Y., & Kerlin, J. A. (2020). Social entrepreneurship in context: pathways for new contributions in the field. Journal of Asian Public Policy, 14(2), 135–151.

Fauzi, M. A., Muhamad Tamyez, P. F., & Kumar, S. (2025). Social entrepreneurship and social innovation in ASEAN: past, present, and future trends. Journal of social entrepreneurship, 16(1), 146-168.

Mair, J., & Marti, I. (2006). Social entrepreneurship research: A source of explanation, prediction, and delight. Journal of World Business, 41(1), 36-44.

Nicholls, A. L. E. X., & Collavo, T. A. N. J. A. (2019). The concept of social entrepreneurship. Atlas of Social Innovation.

Ukil, M. I. (2025). Factors determining social entrepreneurial intention in a developing economy. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 16(1), 124-145.

Zahra, S. A., Rawhouser, H. N., Bhawe, N., Neubaum, D. O., & Hayton, J. C. (2008). Globalization of social entrepreneurship opportunities. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 2(2), 117-131