Details
Year: 2020
Published in: Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 161, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120279.
Cited as: Torres, P. & Augusto, M. (2020) Digitalisation, social entrepreneurship and national well-being. Technological forecasting & social change. Vol: 161, P1202-79.
Subject
This study examines the influence of digitalisation and social entrepreneurship on national well-being. Digitalisation is shaping entrepreneurship, and represent an emergent research topic in the case social entrepreneurship.
Abstract
This study examines the influence of digitalisation and social entrepreneurship on national well-being. Taking a configurational approach, the results show that digitalisation can benefit national well-being if the country has an adequate educational system, good governance, and a philanthropy-oriented financial system. Digitalisation can leverage these conditions in promoting national well-being. The study also contributes to entrepreneurship literature as it clarifies the role of social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship impacts national well-being when institutions are weak, but it is indifferent in developed economies, which gives support to the institutional void perspective. This finding contributes to the ongoing debate on the role of the institutions on the creation of social enterprises and advances knowledge on the social impact of social entrepreneurship. Additionally, the results show that a combination of conditions is required to achieve high levels of national well-being.
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Recommendations from this resource
Future Research
1. Researchers should include digitalisation in future studies aiming to understand national well-being and should take into consideration the national context when studying social entrepreneurship.
2. This research is not without limitations, such as the number of countries in the sample and the cross-sectional nature of the data, which could be addressed by future research.Future studies could overcome these limitations using different datasets.
3. The convergence of digital and entrepreneurship requires new studies to clarify the impact of digital entrepreneurship. For example, future studies could examine the effects of digitalisation on entrepreneurs’ subjective well-being.
Policy Makers
1. Policy-makers should take into account that a combination of conditions are required to obtain high levels of national well-being. Governments should be aware of the influence of digitalisation, and they should consider the relevance of partnering with social entrepreneurs in their country. Policies aiming to raise national well-being should take into account digital adaptation since digitalisation can leverage education, governance, and philanthropic financing.
2. If the government can fulfil social needs, at the national level, social entrepreneurship is not so important. However, if institutions are weak, governments should promote social entrepreneurship, since its absence can be one of the conditions that justify low levels of national well-being.
