Social Entrepreneurship: Beyond the Hype

Abstract

While social entrepreneurship has been attracting increasing attention, it is not clear what it really is. I argue that the term ‘social entrepreneurship’ is too ambiguous to be useful. It is more appropriate to characterize a particular organization, be it public, for-profit or not-for-profit, by how entrepreneurial it is and how much social value it creates. This article discusses the distinct characteristics of the three types of organizations. I then argue that the boundaries between these three sectors are not getting blurred; more importantly, it is better to sustain these boundaries.

Keywords: Social entrepreneurship, civil society, social value, market failures

JEL Classification: M14, L33, M13