Details
Year: 2020
Published in: SSRN
Cited as: Terziev, V., N. Bencheva, T. Stoeva and M. Georgiev (2020). “Developing social entrepreneurship in the EU: a cross-country analysis.” Available at SSRN 3603159.
Abstract
The development of the European social model rests on the concept of social entrepreneurship. The concept has a significant contribution to the development of the European social economy. Social entrepreneurship has a remarkable potential, through its innovative solutions, to play an indispensable role in the social cohesion of EU Member States. The development of social economy in the EU contributes significantly to employment creation, sustainable growth and a fairer distribution of income and wealth. Thanks to the social sector it is possible to combine profitability and social inclusion and to achieve correspondence between services and needs in the public and private sectors. It is essential that compared to other sectors this one has demonstrated its economic and social potential to better address the economic crisis. Therefore, it is getting more and more support for development in almost all EU countries. However, there are significant differences in the scope and scale of development of social economy within the European Union. The purpose of this study is to examine the state and development of social entrepreneurship based on different national models in six EU countries. The majority of the study is based on the results of the comparative analysis of experts’ evaluations occupying different positions in the social economy structure of the following European countries: Greece, Bulgaria, Ireland, Italy, Malta and Estonia
Recommendations from this resource
Policy Makers
“Social enterprises have the capacity to become one of the most reliable partners of the central and/or local
authorities to tackle the social sphere and to promote inclusion into society
of persons of different vulnerable groups. So in order to stimulate this
partnership it is necessary on the basis of the existing legislative framework,
which outlines the legal framework for the activities of social enterprises, to
develop changes aimed at creating a more favorable economic environment
in which to social enterprises operate. Given that social enterprises are
essentially a business carried on by a legal non-profit entity, the tax laws
should provide appropriate relief, as well as to create more opportunities for
financing activities carried out by social enterprises with funds from budget,
municipal budget or various funds.”
