What is the Business of Business?

Andreas Nilsson and David Robinson

No 23505, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper develops a simple framework for understanding the emergence of new organizational forms, such as socially responsible firms and social entrepreneurs, that embody the private sector's efforts to resolve problems that typically have been within the purview of government and traditional public charities. We consider organizations that can generate both financial and social returns. Differences in the technologies between the for-profit sector and the social sector give rise to comparative advantages and play a key part in the analysis. This allows us to analyze the conditions under which hybrid organizations emerge in place of traditional charities and profit-maximizers.

JEL-codes: G3 G32 G38 H44 M14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ent
Note: CF PR
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published as What Is the Business of Business? , Andreas Nilsson, David T. Robinson. in Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 18 , Lerner and Stern. 2018

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Journal Article: What Is the Business of Business? (2018)
Chapter: What Is the Business of Business? (2017)
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