Societal Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Asian Rural Societies: A Multi-Sectoral Social Capital Approach in Thailand, Taiwan, and Japan

Istvan Rado, Mei-Fei Lu, I-Chen Lin and Ken Aoo
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Istvan Rado: School of Global Studies, Thammasat University, Pathumthani 12121, Thailand
Mei-Fei Lu: College of English and International Studies, Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
I-Chen Lin: College of English and International Studies, Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Ken Aoo: Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering in Health Systems, Okayama University, Okayama 700-8530, Japan

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-28

Abstract: The agricultural sector in Thailand, Taiwan, and Japan is facing a number of interrelated crises, including aging producers, falling market prices, changing consumer preferences, and biodiversity degradation. Small-scale farmers in these three societies have engaged in diverse collaborative initiatives with actors from the public, private, and third sectors to overcome these challenges. We illustrate these initiatives by combining the concept of societal entrepreneurship with a complex understanding of social capital. Given that these initiatives are formed in distinct ways across these societies, the paper aims to answer the following research questions: What is the nature of the relationships (expressed as types of social capital) underlying the processes of societal entrepreneurship? How does social capital contribute to sustainable community development? How does it facilitate the scaling up of solutions through multi-sectoral collaboration? Using a case study approach, we aim to explore multi-sector initiatives in each context in depth, before identifying common patterns and key drivers for collaboration through thematic analysis. We have found that distinct drivers are involved in each context due to different types of social capital, including solutions, advocacy, and reconciliation.

Keywords: cooperative; societal entrepreneurship; social capital; aging; environmental degradation; multi-sectoral collaboration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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