Testing the Distributive Effects of Social Enterprises: The Case of Italy

Carlo Borzaga, Sara Depedri and Ermanno Tortia

Chapter 10 in Social Capital, Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Behaviour and Performance, 2011, pp 282-303 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract The debate on social enterprises has been stimulated by their spontaneous and haphazard emergence in many niches of activity and in various countries. Their initial appearance was driven by initiatives undertaken within civil society by social activists. The specialized literature has accordingly studied this new category of firms in a rather narrow way, whereas it may be more important to determine its general economic features. Different streams of analysis underline different advantages and disadvantages of social enterprises, mainly linking them to the literature on non-profit organizations. But they do so haphazardly, without a clear and comprehensive framework. The main contributions (Anheier and Ben-Ner 2003; Borzaga and Defourny 2001) have been based on industry studies, and on some specific features and types of social enterprises. Legislation has followed the same route by focusing on specific activities and organizational types. An example is the law on social cooperatives in Italy aimed at the regulation of social services and work integration, as well as the regulation of fair trade and micro-finance in various countries, etc.1

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; Social Capital; Fair Trade; Social Enterprise; Welfare Effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-30618-9_11

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DOI: 10.1057/9780230306189_11

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